Jeder Sturm Hat Einen Regenbogen Am Ende
by Foreverequivalent
Summary: Akemi is one of the few outsider Sohma's who knows the secret of the Junishi. What will happen when she realizes she's fallen for a the rabbit? sorry, I kinda suck a summaries, but I promise my story is cute
1. Chapter 1

"Ohayo Aki-cha~n!" I heard my mother call from outside my bed room. I know what she wants… She wants me to wake up because today is my first day of high school. I'm really excited and all, it's gonna be great cause I'm going to be in the same class as Momiji-kun and Hatsuharu-kun. I just despise waking up so damn early.

"Grrr, go away mom," I growled and pulled the covers over my head more.

"Come on Akemi, you really need to get up! Remember, Haru and Momiji are going to pick you up and walk with you to school and they'll be here in an hour. I know how long it takes you to get ready in the morning! If anything you'll be getting ready as you walk out that door." She sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'll get up." I yawned and lifted myself out of bed. I grabbed my school uniform and headed to the bathroom. After taking a ten minute show I got out, dried off, got in my uniform, brushed my teeth and went back to my room to do my hair and put on make-up. This was actually going to be the first time I wore the stuff on a just a regular day, but I figure why not? I'm in high school now after all. After taking about an hour finishing getting ready the doorbell rang. 'Crap~, that's the guys and I haven't eaten yet… Mum's gonna kill~ me…' I ran into the kitchen and threw some bread into the toaster before running to answer the door. "Ohayo, Momiji-kun, Haru-kun, just hold on really fast… I'm just going to get some toast and I'll be right there!" I ran back to the kitchen, got my toast, grabbed my backpack and my camera and was out the door.

"Jeez, think you could procrastinate any more?" Haru asked rolling his eyes at me.

"Actually, yes, yes I can. And now… TIME FOR A PICTURE!" I grabbed my camera and snapped a shot of the two of them. It was perfect. Their faces looked so confused. It was adorable, "This year is gonna be the best year EVER! I just have a gut feeling about it." I got one of the boys on either side of me and got a picture of us.

"Aki-chan… Are you wearing make-up..?" Haru asked, slightly smirking as he inspected my face.

"Y-yes… Why are you looking at me like that? Does it look bad? I new I chose the wrong color! I should have just gone with the neutrals, but no! I just had to be bold and go with blue instead!" I continued rambling until I felt someone tugging on my sleeve. I looked up at momiji with confused eyes, and then I got even more confused when I saw he was wearing the girls uniform only with shorts. I know Momiji has an interesting sense of style, but I still expected him to wear the boys outfit, "Uhm… What is it Momiji-kun?"

"You should stop worrying Aki-chan. I think you look cute." He grinned, "The blue really brings out your eyes."

I felt a faint blush come across my cheeks, "Thank you Momiji-kun… So uhm… Why aren't you wearing the boy uniform?"

"Oh uhm… Because I think I look cuter in this." He said it as though it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. And seeing as how I've known him for five years now, it probably should have been.

"Oh, of course," I sweat dropped, "why else would you have worn it?" After a little more walking I saw finally saw Kiabara High come into view, "Look! Look! There it is!" I ran towards it.

"Oh! Akemi-chan! You look so cute in your uniform!" Torhu walked over to me smiling.

I blushed lightly, "Thank you Torhu-nee…"

"No problem." She grinned, "So are you guys excited for your first day of high school?"

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be the best year ever!" I punched my first in the air excitedly, "Especially now that Momiji is gonna be here with me!" I went to hug him but then I remembered about the curse and changed course… which caused me to instead fall flat on my face.

"Akemi! Are you ok?" Momiji knelt down beside me.

"M-mhmm… I'm Fine…" I stood up and brushed the dirt off my skirt, and then I felt a stinging sensation on my right knee. When I looked down there was blood dripping down my leg.

"Ah! You're hurt! Come on Aki-chan! I'll take you to the nurse's office."

"No, it's fine Momiji-kun. I'll just wash it off in the bathroom." I smiled, wincing slightly as I started walking towards the restroom.

"Ok… If you say so Aki… I'm gonna go get you a band-aid though!" I heard him call after me. I smiled to myself, 'He's always so thoughtful. I don't think I'm going to need a band-aid though…' I looked down at me knee and the blood was actually pouring out pretty badly, 'Shit…' I went into the bathroom and wiped my knee with a wet paper towel. I looked at my phone to check the time, "Crap! The bell's gonna ring in five minutes… And then I'll only have five minutes to get to class on the other side of the campus!" I grabbed another paper towel and ran to class. I got there right as the second bell rang. My teacher pointed to my desk, which luckily was right next to Momiji, and I went and sat down.

"Akemi… You're knee is bleeding pretty badly…" he looked under my desk at my leg.

"Don't worry… That's just because I was running… The blood flow increased and stuff…"

"Still… I have the band-aid for you. When the teacher let's us just relax I'll put it on for you." He smiled warmly at me.

"I don't need it Momiji."

"Ah, ah, ah, this is not an arguing matter Akemi-chan."

I let out a defeated sigh, "Fine…" I focused my attention on the teacher, who after explaining the class rules; let us just relax for the rest of the time.

"Now sit up on top of your desk Akemi so I can put the band-aid on for you."

"Ok, I'm going…" I sighed and sat on top of my desk, "If you look up my skirt I swear I'll kill you."

"N-neh? I would never!" he flushed a vibrant red and knelt down next to my legs.

I giggled, "I know Momiji-kun. Don't worry."

"Ok… good." He let out a sigh of relief and opened the band-aid package. He removed the paper towel that I had over my knee and replaced it with the band-aid. Before he stood back up he kissed my knee right on top of the scrape, "All better." He grinned.

I blushed, though I didn't know why… Momiji always did that kind of stuff. I'm usually so used to it… "Thank you Momiji."

"Any time Aki." He nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

At lunch I was looking for the typical Sohma group when I ran into someone, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…" I blushed from embarrassment.

"Well, watch where you're going next time twerp. I don't need some stupid freshy getting in my way." The older boy scoffed.

"O-oh… I'm sorry." I felt my cheeks heat up as I gathered the books I had caused him to drop.

"You better be. Now hurry up. I've got places to be you know." He glared at me.

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?"

I looked up at the sound of Haru's voice. "N-no, it's fine Haru. I just knocked into him. It was really my fault."

"That doesn't mean he gets to treat you like shit Akemi. Now apologize to her." He stared at the senior.

"And what are you gonna do if I don't? You're just a stupid freshman." He smirked.

"I may be a freshman, but I doubt that could keep me from kicking your ass."

'I'd like to see you try." Haru took this as a challenge of course and charged at him. His fist collided with the older boys jaw and sent him flying into a row of lockers.

"Haru stop it! I told you its fine! Now let's go before someone sees." I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the hall, "You know you shouldn't be so reckless! I can take care of myself! If I wanted him to get punched I would have done it myself!" I scolded.

"I'm sorry, but he pissed me off. I couldn't help it…"

"What ever…at least you didn't go black… Let's just find the others." I sighed.

After we found them on the roof I sat down on the ledge that over looked the school. The view was actually pretty nice. It was mostly blue skies with a few white fluffy clouds. To get more comfortable I hugged my knees to my chest and rested my chin on top of them. As I was enjoying my moment of peace I rested my eyes. Though it didn't last long… The next thing I knew I had Momiji screaming in my ear, "Aki-cha~n, how's your first day going?" he smiled at me.

"Oh… Uhm… It's ok I guess, nothing too exciting." I shrugged, "I ran into someone and they were a complete ass about it, but that's about the most exciting this day has gotten."

"What do you mean they were mean?" He looked up at me with innocent and curious eyes.

"Oh, they were just telling me to watch out and that I shouldn't get in their way and shit. They called me a stupid freshman too. It pissed me off, but I was calm about it. But Haru over there decided to play hero and get pissy with him and make things difficult." I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Oh… Why would you let him be a jerk to you like that? Usually you don't take crap from anyone…"

"Yeah, but it's my first day. I don't need trouble on my first day. I'm nervous enough so you know… Plus, this guy was a bit intimidating… and gorgeous… And we all know how nervous I get around gorgeous guys…"

"But he was a jack ass; his looks shouldn't matter if he's an asshole." Haru cut in.

"I know, I know, but I can't help it! It's not like I want to go be his bestest buddy or anything. I've already got one of those anyways, right Momiji?" I smiled at the Lolita boy.

"Right!" he nodded enthusiastically.

"Exactly…" I stood up as the bell rang and it was time to go back to class, which I really didn't want to do, but alas I had no other choice. So as we entered the classroom we went back to our seat and I pulled out my notebook, and pencil, and the latest book I've reading. As soon as the teacher started her lecture on poetry I opened my book and started reading. For those of you who are wondering what said book is, it's The Demon's Lexiconand it is by far one of my favorite books. I mean really? How could you go wrong with a book about sexy demon hunters with the most epic twist at the end? I don't know. But anyways~, needless to say I'm really into the book, so much that I'm paying no attention what so ever to my surroundings, which isn't the best thing since the teacher has apparently been trying to get my attention.

"Sohma Akemi!" I finally heard her shout.

"Neh? What is it Sensei?" I looked up at her, curiosity written all over my face.

"Well I've been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes." She glared at me slightly.

"Oh… I'm so sorry. What is it that you would like?"

"Tell me the difference between a rhyming poem and a poem of free verse."

Seriously, she pulled me away from my book to answer such a simple question? Oh well, might as well answer so I don't get in trouble, "A rhyming poem will have some sort of rhyme to it, most commonly are end rhymes, though there are some middle lines and what not. As opposed to a free verse poem which has no specific pattern and may only have one or two rhyming lines." I explained.

"Hm… Very good…" She praised sounding quite surprised. I found that quite insulting. I mean come on, what dumb ass doesn't know the difference between free verse and rhyme? Besides, I love poetry, not so much writing it, but I certainly enjoy reading it. She went on with her lesson and I continued to read.

Finally, after two more bloody classes the bell rang and it was time to go home. I seriously couldn't wait. All I wanted was to go home, get changed, get food, and play some videogames. After changing from my P.E uniform I grabbed my bag, checked my phone for any messages, and headed towards the gate to find Momiji and Haru.


	3. Chapter 3

When I finally found them Haru was leaning against the chain link. He had his hands behind his head and had his eyes closed. Momiji was sitting on the grass next to his feet and fidgeting with some grass strands that he had pulled. "Hey guys…" I let out a tired sigh and leaned against the fence next to Haru.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You sound upset." Haru glance at me.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. I'm just really tired. I just had P.E and in the class before that my teacher made us write an essay about why we wanted to take psychology and what we hoped to get out of the class over the year and blah blah blah…"

"Oh, sounds fun." He said sarcastically.

"Oh, absolutely, it was the most fun thing I've done all day." I mimicked his sarcasm.

"Well at least it's over with for the day, right?" Momiji smiled at me as he stood up.

"Yeah, true… Well I don't know about you guys, but I am beyond ready to go home." I pushed myself off the fence and stretched my hands above my head.

"Yeah, me too!" Momiji stood up and grabbed his backpack, "Hey, do you think your mom would mind if I came over today Aki-chan?" he looked up at me cutely.

"No, I don't think so. She never really cares. You wanna come too Haru-kun?" I looked over at the taller boy.

"No, I'm going to see Rin today." He smiled softly as he spoke her name.

"Oh, ok. Tell her I said hi."

"Mhm, will do." He nodded.

After we reached my house Haru said goodbye and went to go see Rin. When Momiji and I got inside I dropped my backpack by the door and immediately went to my bedroom, "I'll be right back I'm gonna go change really fast!" I called over my shoulder at Momiji.

"Okie dokie!" he called back.

When I got in my room and pulled out some blue and white plaid pajama shorts and a black tank top. I stripped out of my school uniform, put of my new clothes, and called my mum to let her know I got home safely and tell her that Momiji was over.

"Hello?" I heard her answer.

"Hey oka-san, I just wanted to let you know I got home safely and Momiji-kun is gonna be over for a bit."

"Oh, ok sweetie. Thank you for checking in." I could here the smile in her voice, "Make sure you get the dishes done before I get home too."

"Ok, will do." I sighed, "Bye mum." I sighed and hung up the phone. When I went back to where Momiji he had made himself comfortable on the couch and was watching Mogeta, "Oh! Mogeta! I love that show!" I shouted excitedly.

"I know you do." Momiji smiled sweetly at me, "That's why I put it on."

"Oh, thank you. So are you hungry Momiji-kun?"

"Yeah, a little." He nodded.

"Ok, I'll go make lunch and put away the dishes. You just chill ok?"

"No, I'll help you!" he jumped up off the couch and ran into the kitchen.

"Oh… Well then, you start by getting stuff out for yakisoba while I get started on putting the dishes away." I saw him nod and he went into the pantry. I opened up the dishwasher and a bunch of steam rose out of it. I pulled out the top drawer that held most of the cups and started putting them away. It was a bit difficult though because the shelf they went on were up pretty high, and I, being as short as I am, couldn't reach with out a stool, "Momiji-kun, will you hand me that stool there please?" I pointed to a two step stool that was right next to him.

"Sure thing," he handed it to me.

"Thank you." I smiled and set it up in front of the cabinet and climbed on it. As I was trying to put a cup away I lost my balance. I flailed my arms and tried to grab onto something to keep me from falling. My last option was just to brace myself for the impact, which I was totally prepared for, but then I realized the impact never actually came. When I opened my eyes I saw that Momiji had caught me, but he was holding me away from his chest so he wouldn't transform.

He set me down gently and I regained my balance, "You need to be more careful Aki-chan! You could have really hurt yourself! What if I wasn't here to catch you? What would you have done then?" he scolded me. I wasn't used to this. Momiji hardy ever yelled at me and I felt my eyes start to water. I know it's lame, but I really, really, hate it when he yells at me. 'Cause I know that if I make him angry then I must have really screwed up.

"I'm sorry… I wasn't paying attention… I promise I won't fall again! I'll be super extra careful!" I felt a few tears slide down my cheeks.

"Good, I don't need you getting hurt." He smiled softly at me and wiped away a few tears with his thumb.

"M-Mhm," I nodded and finished putting away the dishes. After that was done I got started on making the yakisoba. It was ready in about thirty minutes and I served us each some on plates. After we got our food we went back into the living room and continued watching Mogeta. After a while the show had finished and I decided we should play some video games. I went to my room and got my old school Gundam video game. When I came back into the living room Momiji had already gotten the system up, "So are you ready to get your ass kicked? I've been practicing." I grinned and popped the game in.

"That's what you say every time, and every time you lose." He smirked.

"Not true! There was that one time three months ago! You and Haru were over and you and I were battling it out and I won!"

"Yeah, but that's just because you cheated. Haru told you what to do so of course you were able to win."

"Grrr… What ever." I growled under my breath, "I. Will. Win." I said, determination dripping from every word. I hit the play button and the battle was on.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ha! In. Your. Face!" I punched my first in the air as I dealt my winning blow. Domon and his Shining Gundam never let me down! (even if I never win they always put fort their best effort, and this time they prevailed!) "I told you I was gonna kick your ass!" I stuck my tongue out at him. When I looked at his face he looked way to happy and smiley to have just lost, "Why do you look so happy? I just beat you! Wait a minute… I know that look… You! You let me win! Why would you do that! I call a rematch!" I shouted in frustration. I can't believe he did that!

"Sorry, but you were just so set on winning… I didn't want you too lose because I knew if you did then you were just going to get all pouty like you always do." He explained.

"I do NOT get pouty!" I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him, "Now give me a rematch and don't let me win this time! I want to either win or lose fair and square you got it?"

"But…" he looked over at the clock by the door, "Oh, look at the time! I really should get going. Dad will be worrying about me if I don't." I stood up hasty to make a getaway.

"Oh no you don't you've stayed my house much later than this and he's never once complained. Not to mention it's only been three hours. Oka-san isn't even back from work yet."

He let out a defeated sigh, "Fine, we'll play and I'll give it my all, but this is the last time for tonight. And let's make a wager." He smirked, "Maybe if we do that you'll win for once on your own."

"Fine, why not?" I shrugged, "If I win you have to learn my favorite Rise Against song on your violin." I grinned.

"Easy." He said confident, "But if I win you have to stop cussing for a week."

"N-neh? Stop cussing? Are you kidding me? Do have any idea how difficult that's gonna be?"

"Exactly, that's the point. You do it way to much so I want to see you stop for at least a week." He grinned at me.

"Fine, I accept your challenge!"

We chose our characters the newest battle began. Of course he just HAD to choose the most difficult arena thingy and the best character. As soon as this battle started I just knew I was gonna lose. It was pretty bad. I tried to dodge his attacks, but every time I failed miserably. I also tried to get a few attacks in myself… That didn't work out too well seeing as how I ended up letting my guard down and he completely took advantage of that.

Finally he did it… He won fair and square. And this time he was absolutely amazing. He must have been holding back on me all the other times we've played because he's NEVER been this good, and the last time we played was just last week.

So now I must accept my defeat and go alone with the bet. Not cursing for a whole week is gonna be really difficult for me, but not only because I lost. I know Momiji doesn't like it and he's my best friend, so I want to make him happy, "So… From here until Sunday I'm done cussing Momiji." I sighed, "You did really well." I gave him a small smiled.

"Thanks Akemi-chan." He smiled back.

For another hour we watch some T.V and just hung out until my mom finally arrive home, "Oh, Momiji! You're still here. It's great to see you!" she grinned.

"It's great to see you too Marie-sama." He returned her grin.

"How was you're guys' first day of high school?"

"Uhm… It was ok." I shrugged, "Kinda suckish actually…"

"What? How so sweetie?"

"Well nothing really happened except for some jack a-donkey, calling me a stupid freshy because I accidentally bumped into him. Then my English teacher gave me the easiest question in the world because she thought it would catch me off guard because I was reading instead of listening to her stupid lecture." I explained.

"Well I don't understand that boy, but I think if I were your teacher I would be a bit upset if a student wasn't paying attention to me."

"I guess… But still. It was just a bit bothersome. I was at a very serious part in my book and she completely ruined it."

"Well I'm sure you'll get over it. Are you staying for dinner Momiji-kun?" she looked over at him, "We're having roman and rice. Aki's father will even be joining us tonight." She smiled.

"I would love to… But I really should be getting home. I have a little bit of homework to do and I should practice my violin. I'm supposed to go see Hatori also."

'He must still be afraid of dad…' I giggled lightly, "Ok, we understand. I'll see you tomorrow morning, ok?" I smiled at him and walked him to the door.

"Right, see you tomorrow." He kissed my cheek before sprinting home.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that evening I was reading my book (The Demon's Lexicon, I totally recommend ya'll read it) and listening to my iPod while mum was in the kitchen cooking up dinner. The sent wafted into my room and it smelled amazing. As a reaction I felt my stomach growl. I put a hand over my stomach as if to quiet it. It didn't work very well, but it's not like I could really do much about it. I let out a sigh, set my book down reluctantly, waited till the song on my CD finished before turning it off (It was _Rumors of My Demise Have Greatly Been Exaggerated_- By Rise Against, my second favorite band), and walked out into the kitchen.

When I got there I saw my father was sitting at the table playing with his phone, he was probably just putting a job in, but with him you never really know. When I sat down at the table with him he smiled at me, "Hey Akemi. How was your first day of high school?"

"Eh, it could have been worse." I shrugged, "I'm just glad I've got at least Momiji and Haru in every class except for P.E."

"Oh, that's good. Those are the boys who are always around here right?" He raised a brow.

"Yeah… Haru's the one with the black and white hair and Momiji-kun is the one who you got pissed off at the first time he kissed my cheek because you though he was my boyfriend, when really he was just being sweet. He always does that when he says good-bye to me."

"Well how was I supposed to know?"

"I don't know, but you didn't need to call him a 'slimy little bastard who was deflowering your precious Akemi-chan'… Oh crap! I just said bastard… Oh no! I said it again… Please don't tell Momiji! I promised him I wouldn't curse for at least a week!"

"Well I was just so shocked… I lost my temper… Next time you see him tell him I'm sorry for overreacting. And don't worry. It'll our little secret." He smiled.

"Good, thank you. And I will. I want him to actually stay for dinner one night." I sighed and mum told me to set the table. I stood up from my seat at the table and went into the kitchen. I pulled out three bowls, three cups, and three sets for chop sticks.

After dinner was finished I went back to my room. I couldn't believe how peaceful it was tonight. I had my window open slightly and I could hear the quiet chirping of crickets and the low croaking of frogs. Since it was about nine o'clock I laid down on my bed, got under my comforter and just listened to them.

After about an hour I just couldn't get to sleep so I got out my lap top and started reading some manga. I would have read more of my book, but that was on the other side of the room and I was wayyyyy to lazy to go get it. I may not have been sleepy, but my body certainly was tired. So after about thirty minutes I had finally fallen asleep.

*Dream start*

I was eleven years old today and I was going to visit my best friends Momiji, Kisa, and Hatsuharu. I couldn't wait! We were supposed to go to the park and eat mochi. I know it sounds simple and all, but that all I really wanted for my birthday, to be with my best friends.

When I got to Momiji's house I heard him practicing his violin. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I'd ever heard. I could listen to him all day if I ever had the chance. I stood there and just listened to him for a few minutes before knocking on the sliding glass door. He almost immediately looked over and smiled at me. He set his violin down and quickly opened the door for me.

"AKEMI-CHAN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" he shouted and kissed my cheek. This was his usual greeting for me since he said he couldn't hug me. He never gave a real excuse, but I just assume he was an aphephobic.

"Thanks Momiji-kun! Are you ready to go to the park with the others?" I grinned.

"Yeah, let me just get your present." he ran back in and came out with a perfectly wrapped box. It was pale green wrapping paper with a sky blue bow on top, "Ok! Now we can go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me off towards that park.

ffw

Later that night it was just Momiji and I at the park. I was on the swing that I always sat on when we went to the park, I named it Mika, and Momiji was pushing me.

"Momiji-kun… uhm… I hope you don't mind me asking… But why aren't I allowed to hug you..?" I asked quietly.

"Oh…uh… I'm not supposed to tell you, but I can't stand keeping it from you anymore. It's just too difficult." He sighed.

"No, if you're not supposed to then don't. I don't want to get you in trouble." I hugged the bunny stuffed animal that he gave me earlier to my chest.

"No, I don't care. I want to." He smiled kindly at me, and so then he told me everything about the junishi and how he was the rabbit. I actually thought it explained a lot. Like his personality and Haru's hair. I think he was a little shocked that I didn't freak out or automatically accuse him of being a liar, "Uhm… so…-you're not s-scare of me or anything?" he asked quietly looking to the side shyly.

I stopped swinging and looked over at him, "Momiji-kun," I started softly, "I could NEVER be scared of you. You're the sweetest, most hyper guy I've ever met, and the -best friend I could have ever asked for. You've always been there for me this past year, especially when my parents were fighting almost every night about money, and you would stay on the phone with me until I fell asleep. The day I'm scared of you will be the sign of the apocalypse." I assured him with a genuine smile.

He let out an extremely relieved sigh, "Ok, thank you Akemi. That really means a lot to me."

"Of course…" I looked at the clock on my cell phone and it was almost eleven, "Well I should get going its late. Thanks again for the bunny, and telling me about the zodiac curse. I'll see you later." I smiled and ran off home.

ffw

The next day around lunch time I was called to the "inside" of the Sohma estate. Apparently the head of the household, Akito, wanted to speak with me. My parents told me it was probably nothing, but I couldn't help but be nervous you know? And after last night… What if Akito had found out and I was going to get my memories suppressed? I can't let that happen!

After about a half an hour I finally made it to Akito's home. I can't even begin to describe to you how scared I was… but none the less I gathered all of my strength and knocked on the door. It opened on it's own and I was called in my a low feminine sounding voice. When I walked in the room was very dim and I could barely make out the outline of a boy just a little older than me wearing a kimono thingy.

This is Akito? A boy about my age is running my family? How the hell did that work out?

"So you're Akemi, right?" he asked coldly.

"Y-yes." I nodded

"So you're the one… The one that BRAT TOLD EVERYTHING TO!" he shouted and slapped me hard across the face. So hard that I was knocked to the other side of the room.

"I-I'm sorry!" I cried out as my back collided with the corner of a wooden table and a warm sticky fluid started to seep through my shirt.

"Sorry isn't good enough you little bitch! You're trying to ruin everything aren't you?" He accused and this time he lashed at my arm with a whip. (When the hell did he get a whip?)

"I swear! I'm not! I'm not!" I felt hot tears streaming down my face.

"YOU LIAR! STOP LYING TO ME!" he whipped me again.

"I'm not! I swear to you I'm not!" I tried to get up to my feet and run away, but my legs weren't listening to me… The next thing I knew everything went black.

*end dream*

I woke up screaming that night, clutching my bunny rabbit so tightly that my knuckles were pure white, "I-I haven't had that dream in two years…" I took a deep breath and got out of bed to get a drink of water. 'Just remember Akemi, 'Jeder hat sturm einen regenbrogen am ende.'' I reminded myself.


	6. Chapter 6

When I got into the kitchen I turned on the small light above the counter and grabbed a small cup from the cabinet, it was close enough to the edge that I could reach it without the stool. I filled it with water and took it back to my room.

I turned on my Owl City CD and sat down in my bed. As I was sitting there in the dark drinking my water and listening to my music I still couldn't get over that dream. I mean… It's been two years since I've had it last. That happened when I was eleven; I had the dreams for two years. They stopped a little while before I turned thirteen. But oh well, I've just gotta get over it. No matter how much I'm scared. I looked over my clock and it was flashing 4:00am. Great… Today is the day we actually start working in classes and I'm going to be as tired as all hell.

I let out a sigh, "Well I don't think I'm gonna be able to get back to sleep so I might as well just get ready..." I grabbed my uniform and headed to the bathroom to start my usual morning routine.

When I got out of the bathroom it was not five o'clock. I decided to put my hair in pigtails today. I know it just makes me look even younger than I already do, but I think it looks really cute. Oh, and did I mention that stupid Takei person yesterday? Apparently he's the school president and he's got a problem with my hair being pink. But I could really care less. Besides, Haru-kun got him off my case for me. I giggle at the memory of the poor class president back up against the wall with Haru in his face shouting about how it was the way I most comfortable and if he wanted me to change it he was gonna have to go through him first. It was amazing and it really made me wonder how I was so lucky to have such great friends.

After about thirty minutes of just sitting in my room thinking I got hungry and decided to go make breakfast. I went into the kitchen and got out all the things for French toast, my favorite. I thought that maybe my favorite breakfast while watching my favorite morning anime might help to put me in a better mood.

Well, as it turns out, I was wrong. It didn't help at all. Well the food did, but not the anime… I just had to be the episode where one of my favorite characters got killed. Joy.

Pretty soon my mum and dad got up. When they came out they had shocked looks on their faces.

"What are you doing up Akemi? Usually I have to drag you out of bed like I'm pulling teeth." My mum walked over to me.

"Oh… Well I uhm… I… I had _that_ dream again…" I looked down at my feet, "It happened about 12 and I couldn't go back to sleep so I just got up and tried doing things to keep my mind off of it."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry sweetheart. Well, just try and have a good day. You know you would always talk to Momiji-"

"NO!" I cut her off, "I can't! He can't know the truth about what happened that day or he'll think it's his fault… And it's not, so forget it. I can handle it on my own."

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry Hun."

"Mm… Its ok, I'm gonna go see Sakura really fast. Let me know when I the boys get here…" I grabbed a dog treat out of the cupboard and went into the back yard, "Sakura! Sakura-chan~" I called to my dog. She's a large Saint Bernard who's only about eight months, yet she's the size of a small coffee table already.

When as she pranced over to me she jumped on me and knocked me down to the ground. She loving licked my face, "Stop Saku-chan, you're going to jack up my make-up." I pushed her face away from my own and sat up.

I hugged her tightly and buried my face into her soft fur and just sat there like that until I felt a light pressure on my shoulder. When I looked up I saw Momiji's soft brown eyes and his sweet smiled, "Ohayo Akemi, your mom said you were feeling a little down today… What's wrong?" I sounded worried.

"It's nothing Momiji-kun, don't worry about it. Let's just get going." I smiled up at him and went started our walk to school with Haru.

When we got to school we went up to Torhu, Yuki, and Kyo. They were standing by the gate with Uotani and Hanajima.

"Good morning Akemi-chan." Torhu smiled at me, "Uhm… You know, I don't want to sound rude, but you don't look so good."

"Yeah, you've got some major bags under your eyes." Uotani pointed out.

"I just didn't sleep well. It's fine." I shrugged it off and the bell rang, "Well let's go to class." 'Cause I really need some sleep…' I grabbed Momiji's hand and ran off with him to class. When I looked back at him his face was rather red, but I couldn't figure out why. Was he coming down with something? "Are you ok Momiji-chan? You're face is all red."

"N-neh? I'm fine, why?" his color increase.

"Oh my god, are you blushing?" burst out laughing, "Why would you be blushing?"

"I'm not blushing!" he shouted defensively.

"Ok, sure you're not." I smirked and we stopped running when we finally got to the classroom.

"I'm not!"

"Ok, ok, what ever." I rolled my eyes and we took our seat." 'Ok… He was soooo blushing… I just have to figure out why…' I thought determinedly.


	7. Chapter 7

Later that day after school I decided to go visit Kisa. She's my best friend, next to Momiji of course. Even though she's only twelve she's super easy to talk to and is really caring. She's like the little sister I've always wanted.

When I arrived at her house I noticed that Hiro was there also. I hated having to get in the way of his Kisa time, but I think my Kisa time is just a wee bit more important at the moment. When I knocked on the door she opened it smiling widely, "Akemi-nee! What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if we could hang out for a little…alone…" I saw Hiro glare at me from behind Kisa.

"If you haven't noticed Akemi, Kisa and I are already busy, or are you wrapped up in your own little world to even care?" He snapped at me.

"Hiro-chan… That's not nice…" Kisa sighed.

"No, it's ok Kisa. He's right anyways, I am too wrapped up in my own little world to care that you guys were already hanging out, but I really need to talk to you. I promise it won't be for too long and then you can come back Hiro. But something I'm really upset about has happened and I need to talk to someone." I explained. He gave me a shocked look, I don't think he's used to people actually agreeing with his snide remarks, and usually I don't, but right now, it was kind of true.

"Fine… I'm only giving you an hour though." He said as he walked out of her room and I entered.

When I got into her room I sat down on the floor and hugged my knees to my chest. I really couldn't figure out which thing was bothering me more, the fact that I had that dream last night, or the fact that I couldn't figure out why Momiji was blushing and denied it… He's never really kept anything from me before, not even the curse.

"So what's the problem Onee-chan?" Kisa sat down in front of me cross legged.

"Well… The first thing is that…Well… I had that dream again…"

"Neh? Which dream would that be?" she looked at me with confused eyes.

"You know… _The_ dream… The one about four years ago…"

"Oh… That one… Do you have any idea why you would be having that dream?"

"No, I haven't had it for three years Kisa. It just doesn't make any sense!" I raised my voice in frustration.

"Hm… I'm really sorry Akemi… Maybe it's because… You feel so guilty about not telling Momiji and it's finally getting to you."

"After three years? I doubt that… But speaking of Momiji there is a second thing that's bothering me… He was blushing today and completely denied it." I frowned.

"Well what happened before he blushed?" 

"Uhm… I grabbed his hand and pulled him off to class because I didn't want to be late and people were asking too many questions."

Kisa giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"You silly nee-chan, Momiji blushed because you grabbed his hand. He likes you after all." She smiled sweetly.

"W-what? No he doesn't! We're just friends! FRIENDS! Besties till the end! Nothing more!" I flushed a bright cherry color.

"Oh! Since you're blushing now does that mean you like him too?" He eyes filled with excitement.

"No! I don't like Momiji! I told you we're just friends! We have been for five years…"

"Well maybe feelings are starting to get a little more than just friends for Momiji. But then again I could be wrong. It's not like I know that much about boys anyways. You should try talking to someone else like Tohru, or Rin." She suggested.

"N-no… That's too embarrassing… And Tohru's even more oblivious than you are. You've seen the way Kyo acts around her and she still hasn't noticed that he likes her… Well… Maybe I will talk to Rin. I don't know… We'll see." I sighed, "Well I think I'm gonna go. Our hour is almost up anyways. Have fun with Hiro-kun." I smiled.

"I always do." She waved me off and I started walking around the estate. It really was beautiful around here. All the plants with their flowers in bloom, and the small animals curled up for their afternoon naps.

Pretty soon I started to think I little more about Momiji. Did he like me? And if he did… Did I like him back? I mean… He's my best friend, I never even gave a thought to having a crush on him, but maybe I was just being naïve. I mean, he would kinda be the perfect boy friend for me. He's sweet, carrying; he's always been there for me. He can match my energy and keep me from bloody well murdering someone when I'm in a bad mood. I-I think I've even caught myself wanting him to kiss my lips instead of my cheek .. How embarrassing!

When I finally got home it was about six o'clock and mum and dad were just sitting down to dinner.

"Are you hungry Akemi? I made your favorite onigiri." Mom smiled at me.

"No thank you. I'll probably eat later. I think I'm actually gonna go take a nap. I'm really tired since I didn't get much sleep last night." I answered quietly.

"Ok, sleep well." I heard her call to me as I slid my door shut.


	8. Chapter 8

So a few months have past now and school is nearing to an end. I've actually managed to put off all questions about how I really feel about Momiji. Though it's been rather difficult, Kisa managed to get Rin, Tohru, and even Haru to constantly badger me with questions _-.-_. It's horrible. Every time I see one of them it's 'So, how are you feeling about 'you know who'?' if Momiji is around, I always feel like we're talking about Voldemort or something if they say it like than, then Haru and Rin are much more blunt when he's not around… Usually it's 'Just get up your damn courage and tell Momiji how you feel! It's so god damn obvious how much you like each other!' That's usually the point where I run away and go hide somewhere else for a bit.

But anyways, today I'm going to hang out with Momiji, who I've notice has gotten a lot taller, but still wears the same weirdo clothes. It's ok though 'cause that's the Momiji I know and love ^^. But if he gets any taller I really think he should change his normal attire because he can just barely still pull it off… So back to my original point, I'm going home with him after school. I didn't feel like going home since my parents had started fighting again, they had been doing so well too*sigh*, so he said I should come over and he'll play his violin and then we might go get ice cream. I of course said yes to the invite. I haven't gotten to listen to him play in so long, besides, why the hell would I pass up a chance to ice cream? I mean seriously that stuff is like crack!

So as we were walking to his house hand in hand an older woman smiled at us and turned to who I assumed was her husband and said, "How cute, don't they remind you of the two of us when we were so young and in love?"

"Yeah, they do actually." I smiled warmly at her, you could tell they were one of those couples that still love each other as much as the first day they met.

Momiji and I both blushed at the comments, and let go of the others hand. From then on the rest of the walk was completely silent, and not the comfortable silence, it was a completely awkward silence that wasn't broken until we finally reached the Sohma estate.

"Oh, Akemi, Momiji, I haven't seen you two in a while. How have things been?" Hatori gave us a small almost unnoticeable smiled.

"Uhm… They've been going ok I guess…" 'But that damned dream still keeps coming up every now and again!'

"Really well Ha'ri." Momiji smiled brightly at him.

"That's good. Where are you going?"

"To my house, Akemi's parents are fighting again so I'm going to play my violin to cheer her up."

"I'm sorry to here that Akemi, but that's very sweet if you Momiji… Well I better be off. I have to go take care of Akito…"

I cringed when I heard that bastard's name, "Thank you… See you around Hatori-san…" I quickened my pace and started walking towards Momiji's house again.

"Wait up Aki-chan!" I heard Momiji call after me, "Why are you going so fast?"

"Oh… Uhm… I'm just really hot and tired. I just wanted t be able to lie down faster." I gave him a small smiled and stopped walking as soon as we reached his door.

"Oh… Ok then." He nodded and opened the door for me.

As soon as we got inside we left our shoes by the door and went straight to his room. I dropped my backpack by his bedroom door, set my cell phone on his table, and flopped onto his bed on my stomach. My face landed right on his pillow. I took a deep inhale through my nose. The sent of the pillow was sweet and comforting, just like Momiji himself.

After a few minutes of silence I heard Momiji riffling around in his closet, he must have been looking for his violin. When it finally stopped I lifted my head up slightly too look at him. He grinning down at me, "So what would you like to hear first? I know all pretty much all classical music and I even learned Swing Life Away by Rise Against for you."

"What? You didn't have to do that Momiji… I mean… That bet was so long ago… And you even won."

"I know, but I still wanted to learn it. I know it's your favorite song."

I couldn't help but smile at him, "Thank you Momiji… Uhm… Why don't you play what ever you feel like, and when you're ready, end with Swing Life Away." I laid my head back down on the pillow I closed my eyes.

"Ok, will do." And with that the beautiful sound of flawless violin music filled the house. I couldn't believe how perfect it was. Maybe it's just because it's been almost a year since I've heard him last. He's obviously gotten better.


	9. Chapter 9

When I opened my eyes about thirty minutes later Momiji was still playing his violin softly. After my nap I actually felt a lot better. It was the best sleep I've gotten in months and it was only for a half an hour. I found that a bit odd, but oh well.

"Oh, you're awake?" Momiji stopped playing and looked over at me as I got myself into a sitting position on his bed with my legs crossed.

"M-mhmmm," I nodded as I stretched my arms into the air to help wake me up a little more.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

"Actually yeah, it was really nice. Probably the nicest sleep I've gotten in months. I feel a lot better now. The head ache I was getting from the heat is gone also."

"That's good." He smiled, "Are you ready to go get ice cream then?"

"Yeah, I just need to get change and we can go." I got off his bed and went into the bathroom with my bag.

When I came back out my hair was back in a pony tail, I was in ripped jeans, a black fitted T-shirt with the Rise Against symbol on it, and some black convers. It was much more comfortable than that stupid uniform, "Ahh, this is much better." I let out a happy sigh.

"Mhm, it suits you much better than the uniform." Momiji smiled, "But you do look cute in the uniform."

"Oh, thanks." I blushed lightly, "Well anyways… Let's go!"

"Ok, then." He grabbed my hand and led me out the door. It was nice outside. The clouds have gotten a little more coverage so it's not quite so hot outside. I was glad. I despise the heat. All it does is make you hot and give you headaches. If it were up to me we would have spring weather all year round, but alas I have no such power.

I let out a content sigh, "Thanks for doing this Momiji. It really means a lot. Especially learning that song, it's my favorite and it always makes me smile when I listen to it."

"It's not problem at all Aki-chan. That's exactly why I learned the song." He blushed lightly.

"Well thank you." I kissed his cheek and his color increased. He was so cute when he blushed. He looked so innocent and nervous. I let out a small laughed and we walked into the ice cream parlor.

It was so cool inside, it was great! It smelled amazing too. When we got in line I looked at the large assortment of flavors and add-ins. I knew what I was going to get, but I always look just incase I see something new I might like to try.

"Are you getting your usual?" Momiji looked down at me with a warm smile. Damn I must be short if Momiji can look down at me; I know he got taller, but still… This just isn't right.

"Mhm, of course," I nodded and went up to the man behind the counter when it was my turn, "A medium French Vanilla in a waffle bowl with nothing else added to it please." I smiled at him.

"Sure thing young lady." He returned my smile and began to scoop my ice cream.

When he had finished and handed me my ice cream Momiji told me to go sit down while he got his. I gladly obliged since I was tired of sanding already. I found a booth by the window that had a view of a nice little park.

When Momiji finally came over he had a chocolate covered waffle bowl with strawberry ice cream in it, "Hey, isn't that that park we went to for your eleventh birthday?" He asked as he sat down.

"Oh yeah, it is… I'm surprised you remembered that."

"How could I forget? That's the same park where I told you about the zodiac and you didn't reject me or anything." He stared out the window with a thoughtful look in his brown eyes.

"Oh yeah… I remember that. I still can't believe you thought I wouldn't believe you. I know you'd never lie to me about something like that Momiji-kun." I smiled at him, "You know, I still have the little stuffed rabbit you gave me."

"Really, I was a dog would have gotten to it by now or something."

"Nope, I mean they've tried, but they've never actually gotten it." I took a spoonful of my ice cream and ate it happily.

"That's good to know." He let out a small laugh, "So why have you been sleeping so horribly Aki-chan?"

"Oh, uhm… it's nothing really, just a stupid repeating dream. I'd really rather not talk about it right now… if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course I don't. This is supposed to be making you happy and forget all the bad stuff. Sorry I brought it up." He smiled.

"Right… Thanks. So have you started that stupid essay for history yet, the one on World War II?"

"No, I'm gonna start tomorrow. Have you?"

"Nope, I plan on procrastinating." I grinned.

"I should have known." He chuckled.

"Yep, I always procrastinate. I'll probably wake up at two the morning the day it's due to finish and print it out."

"I see, at least you're going to get it done though."

"Ah, that's true." I nodded in agreement, "So… When we're done here can we go across to the park?" I asked hopeful.

"Yeah, of course we can." He beamed and for the rest of the time we just sat there in a comfortable silence eating our ice cream.


	10. Chapter 10

After we finished our ice cream Momiji and I went across to the park just as I had asked if we could. I was glad to see that my old swing, Mika, was free for the taking. I immediately ran over and got it before any of the little kids could.

"So this is still your favorite one?" Momiji asked and started pushing me.

"Of course it is! How could you think I might even have a new favorite?" I accused dramatically.

"True, what was I thinking?" he gave an airy laugh. A laugh I never wanted to stop hearing. Wait. What? Since when the hell do I think of sappy crap like that? And about Momiji none the less! 'Oh that's right… Since I realized I have a crush on him.' I mentally slapped myself.

"Exactly…" I smiled, "Hey… uhm… Momiji-kun… Could I ask you something?" I dug my feet into the ground to stop me from swinging and turned to look at him.

He had a confused look on his face, "Uhm… Sure." He nodded.

"Well I was talking to my mum last night and she told me that she's sending me away for the summer… I'm going to visit with my aunt in New York…"

"R-really, the whole summer?" he frowned.

"Yeah… So I wanted to ask you… It's gonna be ok if I call you like… everyday right? I mean… I understand completely if you think that's unreasonable though. I could try every other day if that would work better for you." I blushed at how stupid I sounded and looked down

"No, every day is just fine Akemi. If you want you could call more than that actually. It's not like I'm gonna have anything to do with you gone anyways." He smiled.

"Really, thank you Momiji! You're really best friend I could ever ask for!" I wanted to hug him so bad right now, but I knew I couldn't, 'Damn that curse.' I sighed.

"Thanks, so are you Akemi." He kissed my cheek and started pushing me again.

"Mm… I promise to bring you back presents too! Now that I know I can call you all the time I'm really excited." I grinned, "My auntie said she and her husband own a small café and sometimes really famous people will come in! I wonder if I'll get to meet any. That would be so coolio!"

"Yeah, it would." He agreed with me.

"Mhmmm…. Maybe Paul McCartney will stop by! That would be the best day of my entire life!" I closed my eyes and let the wind blow my hair around my face as my legs swung back and forth a bit.

"Oh yeah, that would be pretty great." I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

I'm so glad he agreed to let me call him every day, and even more so that he said it would be good if I did it more than just once a day, "So yeah… If you get a call from me one day and I'm just screaming, you'll know what happened." I giggled.

"You'll either have met Paul McCartney or be falling to your death, right?"

"Exactly, most likely the first one though ^^"

"Good, I don't want you to die. That would make me sad."

"Yeah, I know." I smirked.

"Hey, you'd miss me too if I died." He pouted.

"Oh boy would I ever… Who else would I turn to when my life goes to hell? Kisa's sweet and all, but that's too much for her to handle."

"Exactly." He nodded.

After a while I pulled out my cell phone and it said it was eight o'clock, "Oh wow… Look at the time; I should probably head home now. I still have some math homework I need to get done and my mum wants me asleep by nine." I sighed.

"Oh… Ok. I'll walk you home then." Momiji stopped pushing me and took my hand before heading back towards the Sohma estate.

The walk back was a little long, but it was nice. I closed my eyes and Momiji led me home so that I could hear the crickets better. They made such a peaceful sound, and were very helpful in getting me to sleep at night.

When we arrived at my house mum had left the porch light on for me. I rummaged around in my front of my backpack pocket for my Hello Kitty design house key and finally found it in my actual jean pocket, 'Blonde moment much?' I mentally smacked myself. Usually I was pretty good about that kind of thing, but oh well, everyone has there moments.

"Well thank you for an amazing time Momiji-kun. I can't even remember the last time I've have this much fun. The park was my favorite part; it's been a while since I'd gotten to do something so childish. Lately it's all been work, work, and more work… What with dads business taking off, and mum working a full time job, the only one left to take care of the house is me." I sighed.

"Yeah… Well any day you want me to come over and help take care of your chores I'm glad to help." He smiled softly at me.

"Thanks Momiji-kun, I think I'll be taking you up on that offer pretty soon." I opened the door and went inside.

"Oh, you're home finally. How was your day with Momiji?" My mom asked as I walked into the living room where she was watching an episode of one of the soaps she recorded.

"It was really nice. First he played me his violin and I took a nap at his house, then we went to get ice cream, and last but not least we went across the street to the park we went to on my eleventh birthday and I told him I was going to be leaving for summer. I asked if it would be ok if I called him everyday and he said I could even call more than that if I wanted to." I blushed lightly.

"That's great sweetheart. I'm glad you're finally ok with going to New York now." She smiled.

"Yeah, me too… Well I'm going to bed. Good night oka-san." I went to my room and turned on some mellow music before falling fast asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning was Saturday, which means I got sleep in. It was great. I didn't even have that dream last night; in fact my dream was quite happy. It was about being in New York with my aunt at her coffee shop and Danny O'Donoghue showed up, my god that man is gorgeous. I got his autograph and everything so it was pretty cool, too bad it wasn't real. I let out a heavy sigh and got out of bed. Speaking of my New York trip, school got out in a week and I was leaving in two. I told my mum that I wanted at least one week of summer with my friends here and she agreed. But none the less I still needed to get packed up.

So as I got out of bed I walked into my closet and pulled out a large black suitcase with an intricate white design on it and threw it on my bed. I opened it up, pulled out a few things that I forgot to take out last time and have been looking for, and started loading it up with new things. Mostly jeans and T-shirts, but I did get a few dresses and skirts in there just incase my aunt decided she wanted to go out to dinner somewhere fancy. She told me she would by me a new wardrobe when I got there, but I still thought I should take a few of my old things.

After I was done with packing I went into the living room and sat down at the table to eat the pancakes my mum had cooked.

"Good morning Akemi-chan. Did you sleep well?" She asked me as she set a plate down in from of me.

"Yeah, really well, I had amazing dream about meeting the lead singer in The Script." I smiled and took a bite out of my breakfast.

She chuckled, "Good, I'm glad." She sat down across from me at the table with her own food.

"Hey, where's dad?" I looked around, but didn't see him.

"Oh, he went golfing with Mr. Razuki this morning." She explained.

"Oh… Ok… Oh, I got packed for my trip so can I go see Kisa after breakfast?" I asked.

"Of course sweetie, have fun." She smiled.

"Ok thanks." I finished up my pancakes and went to go get ready to go over to Kisa's. I took a shower, god dress, put my hair up, and was out the door.

When I arrived at Kisa's she was outside sitting on her porch steps waiting for me. I walked up to her an ruffled her hair, "Hey Kisa-chan. How are you?" I smiled.

"I'm good, you?" she stood up and hugged me.

"I'm doing really well actually."

"That's great! How was your date with Momiji yesterday?"

"IT WASN'T A DATE! It was just too friends hanging out. And it was very fun thank you. I told him I was going away for summer and he took it fine. I plan on calling him at least once a day so it should be as though I've never left." I beamed.

"Good, you better call me too onee-chan."

"I will, at least once a day."

"Good! So when do you leave?"

"A week after school gets out. I wanted at least one week of my summer to be spent with you guys." I assured her.

"Oh, ok, good. That means we can go to the park next Monday with Hiro-chan!" she grinned.

"Yeah, that'll be fun." I nodded, "We could go to an amusement park to. That would be really fun."

"Yeah, and they just opened up that water park a few days ago. Let's go there!"

"Sure, that'll be a great way to kick of summer vacation. We'll get every one to come… I don't know how we'll Kyo to go though with him hating water and everything…"

"He'll probably go just because Tohru will."

"Yeah, that's true. The perv probably just wants to see her in a swim suit." I rolled my eyes.

"So what do you want to do nee-chan?" Kisa looked up at me.

"Uhm… How about we just take a walk?"

"Mhm, sure." Kisa nodded and we left her front yard

While we were walking down a path we saw that Rin out side of Kazuma's dojo. This was odd. Last I had heard she was supposed to be in hospital still. I talk to Haru the other day after he saw her and he said she had swung her IV stand at him. The poor guy just didn't understand that she didn't want to see him anymore right now.

"Hey Rin, what are you doing here?" I walked up to her.

"It's none of your business." She glared at me.

"You know you don't have to get bitchy with you. I'm actually one of the few people who will listen to you if you just say you don't want to talk about it."

"Right… Sorry, I don't want to talk about it… So what are you guys doing?"

"Eh, just taking a walk. It's nice enough after all."

"Right… Well I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you around." Kisa and I waved and went on with our walk.


	12. Chapter 12

When I got back I was so bored. I didn't know what to do, I could probably go to see Momiji, but I really didn't want to be a bother. He was probably working on his essay.

"What do you mean you aren't coming home tonight?" I heard my mum shout from her bedroom, "I don't care! I told you I wanted you home tonight, but instead you chose to go out and get drunk with the guys! I'm so sick of this behavior Al!"

Great… They're fighting again. I sighed, "Forget it… Momiji won't mind if I interrupt him… He can work on it while I'm there even. I just need to get away from all the shouting…" I grabbed my bag, cell phone, and house key before I walked out of my room, I waved at my mom to signal I was leaving and she gave me a sad look before she nodded her head ok and I left.

As soon as I shut the front door I took of running and I felt tears building up in my eyes. Eventually they made it out and started falling quickly down my cheeks. As I ran my face was cold because of the breeze on my wet skin. I didn't mind though. I had been starting to feel hot anyways.

When I finally reached Momiji's door I peered inside and saw him leaning over his desk writing. Before knocking lightly on the glass I wiped my cheeks with the sleeves of my sweater. When he walked over and opened the door he had a shocked but happy look on his face, "What are you doing here Aki-chan?" He asked.

"Nn… My parents were fighting… It was just over the phone, so I only heard my mums side, but I just didn't want to listen to it anymore…" I looked down an my shoes and wiped my face again with my hand.

"Oh… I'm sorry… Here, come in." He smiled warmly at me.

"Are you sure? I'm not going to be interrupting anything, am I? 'Cause If I am I can find somewhere else to go…"

"No, it's fine Akemi. I was just working on the essay. I'm almost done with it, besides, it's getting late, and I was actually just about to stop."

"Oh, ok then. Thank you…" I stepped inside and slipped my shoes off before sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"So do you want to talk about it? The fight I mean…" he sat back down at his desk and turned his chair around to face me.

"My dad… My mom wanted him to come home tonight to be with us, but instead he went out with his buddies and got totally wastes… Needless to say, mom is really upset about it…"

"Oh, I'm sorry… I'm sure everything is going to be alright though. They always get over it, right?"

"Well yeah… But still, what if this time they don't? What if this time they decide to split up?" I choked out.

"I'm sure that's not going to happen. You're parents really love each other. Every couple fights Akemi. It's only natural."

"I know it's natural to fight… But not like this… Not almost every night… Not over stupid things like who forgot to take the dog for a check up or the kid to a dentist. I think I even heard them say something about the color of the kitchen the other night…"

"Oh… You shouldn't have to listen to that Aki… I'm sure everything will work out though. No matter what happens." He moved to sit next to me and rubbed my back comfortingly. That's when I noticed what he was wearing.

"You're… In actual boys clothes… And your hair… there's something different about it…" I pointed out.

"Yeah… I realized today that I'm getting older and I shouldn't be wearing that stuff anymore… besides, most of it doesn't even fit me anymore." He chuckled lightly, "And I don't know about my hair. I don't think I did anything different to it."

"Oh… Well it looks good." I smiled and took a deep breath.

"Thanks…" I saw him blush lightly.

"Mhmmm… No problem." When I looked up at him his eyes were so kind, and I couldn't help myself. Before I even knew what was going on I kissed him. It was…nice… sweet…and warm, or maybe that was just from my blush… Either way I was on fire. When I pulled away I looked in the other direction, covering my face in an attempt to hide my ever growing blush. I could not believe I had just done that, "I-I… I'm soooo sorry… I just got caught up in the moment." I took a deep breath.

"I-It's fine. Don't worry about it." I looked over and saw him smiling at me. He didn't even look phased by the kiss. I was so confused. Was it because he didn't feel anything? Or maybe he's just that comfortable around me… Either way I was shocked.

"Mm… O-ok…" I nodded and looked over at the clock. It was already ten o'clock, "Uhm… Do you mind if I sleep here tonight? I don't feel like going home just yet… I've even got clothes for school tomorrow in my bag…"

"No, I don't mind at all. Sleep well Akemi. I'll sleep in the living room so you can have my bed."

"Ok… Thanks again… So much…"

He kissed my forehead before leaving his room and turning out the light. Now it was completely dark in the room except for the dim glow of a small nightlight in the corner. I got under the covers and pulled them high above my head before falling fast asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning I woke up to the alarm on my cell phone. I reach my hand over and turned the clock off. When I sat up I looked around the room I saw my bag hanging on the chair by Momiji's desk and the sun was shining through the window. I could hear the birds outside singing. It was really peaceful.

I got out from under the covers and grabbed my bag before heading to the bathroom. After my shower I got dressed and went into the kitchen where Hatori was cooking breakfast, "Ohayo, Hatori-san." I smiled at him and sat down at the table.

"Good morning Akemi. How are you feeling this morning?" he set a waffle down in front of me.

"Much better than I was last night… Thank you." I took a bite out of my waffle and washed it down with some orange juice, "So where's Momiji-kun?" I asked. I had noticed he was out here with us.

"Oh, he went to go borrow a uniform from Haru. He should be back any minute now actually."

"Oh, ok then." I smiled, and just as Hatori has said Momiji was back. He was wearing the boy's uniform and it fit him quite well, though it was too perfect. I'm going to have to fix that.

"Ohayo Aki-chan! What do you think?" He asked grinned at me.

"I think it looks to perfect."

"Neh, what do you mean?" He looked confused.

"I mean, it looks to perfect." I walked over, loosened his neck tie, unbuttoned the first two buttons, and ruffled his hair a little.

"Much better," I smiled, "now you don't look so dweeb-ish." 'Though I just made him more desirable to even more of the female population at our school…' I frowned, 'But that's good for him I guess… I'm sure he'll want a girlfriend soon. He's fifteen after all… I can't imagine he still thinks girls are icky… Though I don't think he's ever really thought that…'

"Oh… Thanks." He smiled, "You look really cute this morning." He pointed out.

"W-what? I didn't do anything different. I looked at myself in the mirror to make sure.

"No, but your hair is still wet. It's cute." He put his hand in his pocket casually.

"Oh… Thanks…" I blushed lightly, and I turned even redder when I remember the kiss from last night. It was weird… I could almost still feel his lips against mine.

"So are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah, just let me go get my backpack." I ran to his room and came back out with my backpack.

"Ok, let's go Akemi-chan." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door.

When we arrived at school the girls wouldn't stop staring and whispering. It was kinda awkward. Of course Momiji wasn't fazed by it at all. He actually loved this kind of attention. I on the other hand could certainly do without the glares I was getting.

"Uhm… Momiji-kun… Could you uhm… let go of my hand please...?" I blushed lightly.

"Hm? Why?"

"Because I would rather not be the most hated girl in school for just being your friend…"

"What does that have to do with me holding your hand?" He looked confused.

"W-well… I think they think that we're…uhm… Together…"

"Why should they care if we're together or not…?"

"Because they like you Momiji, you're just like Yuki now. You've got fangirls and no one is allowed to date you. You're off limits. No girl is to speak to you without having another around."

"Oh… So you don't want them to think we're together so that… you won't be hated?"

"Well yeah… I mean… It's the last week of school and I really want it to go as smoothly as possible."

"Ok… I understand." He nodded and let go of my hand, though he looked downcast.

"Well I'm gonna go ask one of my teachers something. I'll see you in class, ok?" I asked. He nodded weekly. 'Uhg… Screw this… I would rather be most hated girl on campus than have to make Momiji-kun sad…' I thought, 'I really am digging my own grave here, "Ok, good." I kissed his cheek and he smiled.

"Ok!" he waved as I ran off.

When I got to class I saw both Haru and Momiji's desks swarmed with girls. All of them asking what there favorite things were, or if they wanted to hang out sometime. It was really starting to piss me off.

"Alright class, please take your seats." Sensei ordered.

'Thank god…' I took my seat next to Momiji and pulled out a book.

"Hey, so what did you have to ask your teacher about?"

"Oh, I just had a question about the requirements for something we had to write, nothing special." I shrugged.

"Oh, ok." He nodded.

"Oh, so on the first day of summer Kisa, Hiro, Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, Haru and I are gonna go to that new water park thingy. Do you wanna come?"

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I thought you were going to New York though."

"Yeah, but I got my mum to give me a week with you guys before I leave." I smiled.

"Ok, good. We have to hang out everyday then."

"Mhmmm, of course, I wouldn't want to do anything else." I blushed lightly and then the teacher told us to stop talking and pay attention.


	14. Chapter 14

At lunch it was the same thing as before class had started. The girls were flocking over to us, and it didn't help that Yuki and Kyo were also here with us. So we had not only had Momiji's new fan group, but we also had Yuki's Kyo's, and Haru's.

I was actually doing pretty well with this until one girl decided to ask Momiji-kun why he hung out with me. When he asked why he wouldn't she came back with the fact that I'm a snide, bitchy, grungy, sarcastic person. That was pretty much my breaking point. Before he even got to reply I was up and screaming.

"That's it! Get your creepy stalkers asses away from Momiji! You think I'm the snide one? I'm not the one bad mouthing you to your best friend! You think I'm the bitchy one? Look at who's talking! You're saying all this shit in front of me! So get the hell out of here before I beat your ass into the ground!" I fumed and watched all of them shrink back, '*sigh* so much for this last week going smoothly.'

"Uhm… Akemi… Can you come with me?"

"Y-yeah… Just give me a minute Momiji-kun…" I took a deep breath and grabbed my backpack, "Ok… Now where are you taking me?"

"Away from here, I don't exactly know where." He shrugged.

"Oh… Ok…" I nodded and started walking away from the group. Once we were far enough away I grabbed onto Momiji's hand and stopped him from walking any further.

"What are you doing? We're not staying at school anymore."

"Neh? What are you talking about?" I gave him a confused look.

"I mean we're ditching the rest of the day. I think you need some time to just relax… I mean… I've never seen you get so angry with someone you've never really met. Even if they were mean to you…"

"I-It's not that she was mean to me… It's more the fact that they just… Annoyed me…"

"How did they annoy you?"

"Just… Being around you like that… Acting like they know you and what's best for you. It pisses me off. They only like you because you've grown up and you were cute. They could care less about your personality. All they care about is that you're a nice piece of eye candy. I on the other hand actually care about you. I know you, I don't know what's best for you, you're the only one who knows that, but I do know that if you EVER get with a girl like that, it will be the worst mistake of your life."

He looked at me with soft eyes, "Well you don't have to worry about that. Trust me."

"Ok… Good… Uhm… but… How can you know for sure? They're awfully pretty…"

"I can be sure for all the reasons you said. They don't know me and they don't really care about me like you do Aki… Besides, I like someone else right now. I have for a while actually." He smiled at me.

"What? You do? And you didn't tell me? Why wouldn't you tell me?"

He blushed lightly, "I… I didn't really know how…"

"What are you talking about? You were able to tell me easily when you liked Tohru…"

"Well yeah… But that was different…"

"How was that different…?"

"Because… I… I like you Akemi." He flushed.

"W-what? Me?"

All he did in response was nod. I was in shock. Never in a million years would I have expected him to like me. I was sure he thought of me as just a friend. Apparently I was wrong. To be honest, all I wanted to do right now was to hug him and never let go, but obviously I couldn't do that.

Instead I took a deep breath and smiled at him, "I like you too Momiji… So much… I just… I never thought you would feel the same… I mean… Like that girl said, I'm snide, bitchy, sarcastic, not so much grungy as I just don't like being all girly… Not to mention I open my mouth at all the wrong times."

He let out a breathy laugh, "You're also stubborn, but with that being said, you're also sweet, caring, and gentle. But I also like all the negative things you said. They're what make you, you."

"O-oh… Thanks…" I blushed and looked down at my shoes, "I just… I don't know what to say… You always make me feel special when everyone else is making me feel like crap. You know exactly how to make me smile and relax when I'm in the worst moods…and… You can make me want to melt by just smiling at me. I've never felt like this before. It's weird. I've had crushes of course, but usually it's just because I think they're cute. With you, it's so much more." I felt his hand on my cheek and he forced me to look at him. I nearly got lost in his eyes. They were so warm and gentle.

"Well after being around someone for five years you start to learn a thing or two about them, especially when you really pay attention. So how about we go get some ice cream and go back to my place? I'll play my violin for you."

"Uhm… That sounds great… But I really don't think ditching would be a good idea Momiji-kun…"

"Why not? They're already half way through with 5th period."

"What? When did the bell even ring?"

"A while ago actually."

"Oh… Well then I guess we'll go get ice cream." I shrugged and grabbed his hand as we left the campus.


	15. Chapter 15

When Momiji and I got to the ice cream parlor we ordered our ice cream and found an open booth near the back of the shop. For a few minutes it was pretty silent between the two of us as we ate and thought.

"So…" I broke the silence, "Uhm… Where does this leave us?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Like… are we just going to stay friends? O-or are we gonna try something else?" I blushed.

"Oh… I think it would be best if we just stay friends… I don't want to put you in the position of trying to date a Sohma… You've seen what Akito's done to Rin and Kisa… I don't want that to happen to you too. Besides, you can't hug me…"

"I don't care about that. If I can be your friend and not hug you it can't be that much different… But I get what you're saying about Akito…" I cringed.

"Yeah… I just don't want you to get hurt…" he sighed and took a bite of his ice cream.

"Right," I nodded, "I'm just glad to know you feel the same way." I smiled.

"Yeah, that is nice to know." He agreed.

"Exactly… So thanks again for letting me stay the night last night…"

"No problem. Anytime you need to get away from home my door is always open." He smiled at me.

"Mm… Thanks. I'll probably be spending the next two weeks there then since I don't want to miss a second of hanging out with you before I have to leave."

"That's ok with me."

"Good… So you actually seem to be enjoying the new fan base you've got."

"No, not really, I just don't want to be a jerk to them. They haven't really done anything wrong." He shrugged.

"You know you're way too nice. And I'd say what happened today was pretty wrong." I glared at my ice cream.

"Yeah, but does it really matter? They're just some stupid obsessive girls whose opinions mean nothing to me. Why do they bother you so much?"

"That… Is a very good question that I don't know the answer to… I guess I was just… Worried that what they said might make you realize that I was all those things and then you wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore… I know that's probably really stupid, but I can't help it. I'm just… a bit insecure is all." I sighed.

"Well you don't need to be. Like I said before, I like everything about you, even the negative things."

"Right… Thanks again Momiji."

After hanging out with Momiji the rest of the day I decided to go home. When I got there my mum and dad were sitting at the table having dinner in silence.

"How come you're home so late?" Mum looked over at me.

"Oh… I spent the day with Momiji-kun. I'm sorry I didn't call. I was just having a really bad so he took me out and we just had fun."

"That's nice… Just make sure you call next time. I was worried about you. Are you hungry?"

No, I had dinner with Momiji and Hatori-san. I'm just going to go to my room and read for a little before I fall asleep."

"Oh ok, sleep well sweetheart."

"Yeah, I will." I smiled at them and went to my bedroom.

When I got to my room I blasted my music, got out a book, and got comfy in my bed. Today was pretty much the best day ever. Sure it got off to a bumpy start, but for the most part it was totally amazing. I mean… I found out Momiji-kun likes me! Sure we can't be together… But that's just so that, that bastard Akito doesn't find out and beat the hell out of me again. Not that he exactly knows about the first time… But he doesn't need to know about that… That will only hurt him… Right..? Or maybe I should. I shouldn't hide something this big from him.

"Ok… It's decided. I'll tell him… And I better do it now before I chicken out, cause I know I will." I sighed, besides the parents are going at it again. I grabbed my back with clean clothes and ran out to the living room, "I'm going to Momiji's! See you guys tomorrow!" I shouted over my parents and started my walk towards Hatori's.

When I go there I knocked on Momiji's door. It took him a while before he opened it for me. He hadn't heard me knocking over his music.

"Hey Akemi, what are you doing here? Are your parents fighting again?"

"Well… Yes, but that's not why I'm here. I actually came here to talk to you."

"Huh, about what?"

"Uhm… A-about something that happened a few years ago…" I looked down at my shoes, "Mind if I come in?"

"No, not at all." He looked a little confused as I walked past him and sat down in his chair, "Ok… So Four years ago, on my birthday you remember telling me a the curse and everything, right?"

"Yeah, of course." He nodded, "But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Well… You see… I never told you this, but the next day I was… I was called to the main house by Akito."

"What? H-he hurt you… Didn't he..?" he glared at his bed post.

I nodded, "Y-yeah… You know that scar on my back? T-the one… The one I told you I got from falling onto a rock… Or something like that. I can't even remember what I told you." He just nodded, "Well… That's not really what happened…"

"I gathered…" his voice sounded almost angry, something I really wasn't used to.

"Right… Well that was from Akito… When he found out I knew about the curse he called me to him. He was really angry… and he smacked me… and whipped me… I got that scar because one of the times he hit me I landed on a table and that's how that happened…" I took a deep breath and looked over at him. He looked hurt, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner… I just didn't want you to think it was your fault…"

"But it is… If I had just kept this from you, you never would have gotten hurt!"

"But that would have hurt me even more! We're supposed to be able to tell each other everything! I know I sound like a hypocrite right now, but you have to understand… I didn't want you to feel this way. To be honest, I'm glad you told me, and I would do it all over again because once you told me that I knew nothing could ever come between us!" I felt my eyes starting to water.

Momiji let out a sigh, "I know… But I don't want you getting hurt Akemi. I care about you too much. And f it's my fault that you get hurt… That just really sucks."

"Well don't worry. It's not going to happen again, and I'm fine from Akito did. So just be happy and smile 'cause I hate to see you sad. That hurts more than any punch." I smiled softly at him and kissed his cheek, 'Wow… I feel so much better now that I'm not hiding this from him anymore. I should have done this years ago…'


	16. Chapter 16

Well it's time. The two weeks have finally passed and tonight I leave for New York. Don't get me wrong, I'm mega excited for the trip, I just hate that I have to leave all my friends behind for two months. This last week was really fun though. The water park was probably my favorite part. While we were walking around Kyo fell into one of the pools. It was epic. I don't think I've ever heard him curse so much. And Momiji-kun won me a teddy bear from one of the game booths, I know it sounds like a total cliché, but I loved it. But he just did it as a friend; he couldn't do it as anything more.

I let out a low grunt as I lifted my heavy suit case into the car, "Why the hell did I pack so much..?" I sighed

"Because you're so indecisive about what you thought you might need." I head Momiji chuckle as he came up behind me.

"Momiji-kun! Did you come to see me off?" I smiled at him.

"Of course I did. You didn't think I would actually let you leave without saying good-bye did you?"

"No, I don't know what I was thinking honestly."

"Yeah, you probably weren't even thinking at all."

"Man, if only I could do that… That would be so cool. I think way too much."

"Yeah, I've noticed that." He smiled.

"Mhmmm… So remember to make sure your phone is charged and by your side at all times. You never know when I might be calling, especially with the time difference."

"Oh, right. Don't worry. I wont go anywhere without it."

"Good."

"Come on Akemi, we've gotta go. We don't want to miss your flight." My mum called as she got into the drivers seat.

"Well that's my cue." I sighed.

"Right… You remember to have fun." He smiled, "Maybe you'll even find I nice guy over there…" his smile wavered.

"Momiji… I bet cha I won't. I mean… I may find a nice guy, but I'm gonna go out with them. Because, first of all, I only want you, no one else can ever come close to you and I'm not settling. And secondly, I don't do long distance. So don't worry. I'll call you when I get there." And without even thinking about it I gave him a quick kiss before getting in the car and driving away.

"So…since when are you and Momiji going out?" My mum asked with a smiled.

"Ne? We're not going out. We're just friends. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Well I just assumed since you kissed him… It seemed like you were going out."

"I did what?"

"You kissed him… Don't you remember?"

"Oh god… I just thought I thought about it… I didn't to actually do it!" I flushed.

"Well you did." She chuckled.

'Great… Not a bad way to leave though if I do say so myself.' I smiled to myself and watched out my window as the passing scenery blurred together. Since it was dark they were pretty much just a bunch of yellow and red light, it was somewhat captivating.

When we finally pulled into the airport it was about ten o'clock. It was a thirteen hour flight, my flight was at ten thirty, and I should be arriving in New York around eleven pm their time… Hello jet lag. That's gonna suck… I better get sleep on the plane, but not too much so that I'll be able to sleep when I get to my Aunts.

"Now sweetheart, remember this, don't talk to strangers, make sure you always have your cell phone with you, take lots of pictures, have lots of fun, and don't let your aunt rub off on you too much or you'll come home with tattoos and a bellybutton ring."

I giggled, "I know mum, don't worry. Especially with the phone thing, that's my baby, my life line… My only connection to everyone in Japan…"

"Oh don't be so dramatic. You've got your laptop too."

"Yeah… I guess that's true…" I smiled, "Well I'll talk to you soon mum. I love you." I gave her a long hug before rushing onto my plane.

This was the first trip I've ever taken without one of my parents coming with me. So I was super nervous, but totally excited at the same time. And I was going to be with my aunt Anita. Things could not get any better. Anita is really the best. She's like a teenager, only not. She's the one I can talk to about boys and not feel nervous or embarrassed at all. I can't wait to tell her about Momiji. She knows him, and she knows we're friends, but she doesn't know I like him or anything. The best thing though will be telling her about my first kiss, something neither one of us ever thought would ever happen.

I laughed quietly to myself and watched from my window as the plane took off. I took out my headphones and put them in, quickly choosing a song and then putting my iPod on shuffle. Then I pulled out a book, turned on my little reading light, and started reading. I feel asleep about twelve, but I set the alarm on my phone for about, what ever time I needed to be able to wake up and still be tired when I got to New York. (sorry, the whole time difference thing is really confusing so I'm not going to start using times again till I'm in New York)

So when I finally got to New York, thanks to my smart alarm clock, I was still tired and could totally sleep another six or seven hours. In fact, that sounded completely magnificent. As I got off the plane I left to find my luggage and then my Aunt. She couldn't be too hard to miss; she was probably the only adult around her with bright blue streaks in her hair, and just as I thought I spotter her in an instant. Thought the neon green sign with my name and chibi drawings on it was very helpful.

"Akemi! How's my favorite little niece?" She ran up to me and hugged me.

"I'm amazing auntie! How are you? How's Uncle Nick?"

"I'm doing great and Nick is really good too. He's back at the loft putting a few finishing touches in your bedroom."

"You didn't need to personalize my room. I'm only staying for two months."

"True, but those are two months that I want you to feel completely at home. So what do you say we go home?"

"Hmm… I say… Hell yeah! I'm really tired too."

"Ok, sweetie, then lets go." We grabbed my luggage and headed to her loft.


	17. Chapter 17

When we go to the car I pulled out my phone, "You don't mind if I make a quick phone call do you?" I asked.

"No, of course I don't hun." Anita smiled at me.

"Ok, thanks." I dialed Momiji's number and waited for him to pick up, "_Hello?_" I heard him answer, "Hey Momiji-kun! I was just calling to let you know I've arrived safe and sound and I'm on my way to my aunt's loft now." "_That's good. How was your flight?_" "It was long and boring… I survived though." I yawned. _"Oh, I see…Its good you survived though._" "Yeah… Well I'm really tired so I'll talk to you my tomorrow your today…" "_Ok, bye Aki-chan._" "Bye…" I hung up the phone.

"So… Was that your boyfriend?" My aunt asked teasingly.

"No… Just Momiji, you remember him don't you?"

"Oh yeah, the little Lolita boy, right?"

"Yeah, he's not Lolita anymore. Now he's all grown up, tall, gorgeous, and wearing boys clothing."

"Sounds like someone's got a little crush." She smiled.

"Oh yeah, it's not that little though. I really like him." I smiled out my window as we came to a stop outside a huge building.

"Does he know?" she got out and opened my door for me.

"Yup, he likes me too in fact. I'll tell you all the details tomorrow though. Right now I just need sleep."

"Right, of course." She smiled and we took the elevator up to her loft. It was huge, a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, and two full baths. She showed me too my room and without even really looking around I crashed onto my bed, which was amazingly soft, and passed out.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of freshly baked French toast wafting into by bedroom. I looked over at the small black alarm clock that was resting on a dark cherry wood nightstand. It was flashing 9:00am. I didn't think I was that tired last night, just a little sleepy, but I was glad that I slept so well, that would mean that the jet lag wouldn't affect me that much. When I looked around the rest of the room it was perfect. Pale green walls with a light blue carpet. There was a black rug with the Rise Against symbol on it and there were anime and band posters all over the walls.

If I could take this room back home with me I totally would. So I got out of bed, changed into some ripped jeans and a white fitted T-shirt with a rainbow on it and went into the kitchen where I saw Nick cooking.

"Good morning Akemi, how did you sleep?" he smiled warmly at him.

"Really well, thank you." I smiled back and walked over to give him a hug.

"Good, you're aunt already left about six to open the coffee shop. So what do you say about eating and then heading over there?"

"I'd say that sounds awesome." I got a plate, three pieces of French toast, and went to sit at the counter with a view of a large window that over looked the city.

After I finished eating I made a quick phone call to my mum, telling her that I got here safely and was already having a great time and then it was off to the coffee shop. This was what I was looking forward to most. My aunts coffee place is small and they're really close-knit with all their customers, even some of the famous ones.

When we got there it was your typical coffee place, dimmed light, low jazz music playing, an amazing aroma, and completely filled with chatting customers. I went over to the counter where a gorgeous guy was working the register. He looked about my age, maybe a little older, his muscles were pretty defined, he had dark black hair, and beautiful green eyes.

"Hey there beautiful, can I get you anything?" He smiled at me.

"Uhm… Sure, how about…" I put my finger on my chin in thought and stared at the above menu, "A passion fruit iced tea lightly sweetened."

"Sure, coming right up." He winked at me.

"Uhm… If you're trying to flirt with me please don't. I'm taken." I smiled at him when he gave me a dumbfounded look, I guess he wasn't used to being turned down, and I walked to an open table.

"So what's this about? Lat night you said that Momiji boy wasn't your boyfriend." I heard Anita as she walked up behind me with my drink.

"H-he's not, but I don't want to have anyone but him, so I don't see the point in leading anyone else on." I explained.

"Oh, so you really like him. I mean, you did turn down Josh, even girls who come in here with there boyfriends who still swoon when he flirts with 'em."

"I really do, he's so sweet. He totally gets me, he's always there when I need him, and he's just freaking gorgeous."

"That's great babe, so why aren't you with this perfect guy?"

"Because it's not allowed… You know that whole inner Sohma deal right?"

"Yeah, found out when I was ten and I hugged Sigure because I liked him and wouldn't listen, not my shining moment, but he wasn't as bad back then." She sighed, "But what's that got to do with anything."

"Well… Momiji-kun is one of the special ones… You remember what happened you found out about it right..?"

"Yeah… I was sent to Akito. I'll never forget that day." She looked down at her lap.

"Well the same thing happened to me because Momiji told me about the curse. And now we can't be together because if we went out things would be even worse for me and I would probably get my memories erased."

"Oh hun… I get it. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, don't be. I thought about it and I'm perfectly content just knowing that he likes me back, and I've decided that since he can't be with anyone then I won't either. It's pointless. I won't be happy with anyone but him. Besides, I can still steal a few kisses, and when we hang out together it's practically a date, only Akito doesn't know that."

"Wait, rewind, did you say KISS? You finally had your first kiss?"

"Yup." I smiled at her, "With Momiji… Mom and dad were fighting and so I went to his place because I couldn't take listening to it anymore. When I got there I was tell him what happened while he rubbed my back to comfort me and the next thing I new I kissed him. It was perfect."

"Sounds like it." She smiled, "Well I have to get back to work. So just relax, talk to people, and have fun." She disappeared behind the counter once again.


	18. Chapter 18

While I was sitting at my table drinking my tea I saw someone sit down with me out of the corner of my eye. When I looked over it was a girl about my age with long blue ponytails. She was wearing a gray hoodie with a green shirt underneath and light blue jeans. She took a sip from her cup and just kind of stared at me. I found it really creepy until I realized who it was.

"Jenny? Is that really you?" I jumped up from me seat to giver her a hug. Jenny was a really good friend I had made on my last trip here. She's very similar to me. We've got the same taste in music, clothes, and guys. I met her while I was in the record street down the way. We both reached for The Beatles Whit Album in CD form and ever since we just started hanging out.

"In the flesh." She grinned and hugged me, "How have you been girl? It's been forever."

"I've been really good actually. A lot of things have happened in the last three years."

"I see, you sure haven't gotten any tall though, and you've still got the same look."

"I know… My aunt and I are gonna fix that soon. She said the first thing to be done is my hair. I've been thinking about what I want and I've decided on cutting it just a little short, but so it's still long enough to be put into pigtails, layering it, dying it black, and coloring some random layers a blood red color."

"That sounds like it's gonna look awesome!" she smiled at me.

"Yeah… I hope so… So do you have a boyfriend right now or are you just single?"

"I'm single. Most guys around here suck ass." She sighed, "You?"

"Same, I've got a guy that I like a lot, but he's not allowed to date so it really sucks. Oh, but have you met Josh? He's single, cute, and nice. He's even got a job." I smiled.

"Oh, that's too bad. I hope he'll be allowed to date you soon. And where is this guy? I don't know any Josh."

'Me too… Though I doubt that'll happen…' I thought to myself, "He's over there working behind the counter, the gorgeous guy with amazing green eyes."

"Oooh, he's cute. I'll have to talk to him later." She smirked.

"Yeah, he's a real flirt too so I'd go for it. So what else has been going on with you?" I asked as we sat back down.

"Eh, the usual, school, hanging with friends… Nothing too exciting." She shrugged.

"Oh, I see." I nodded and looked at the clock, "Oh, it's ten. I'll be right back; I'm going to go talk to Momiji before it gets too late. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all, it's only ten a.m. after all, we've got all day."

"Ok, thanks." I smiled and went into the back of the shop and sat down on the couch in my aunt's office. I pulled out my phone and dialed Momiji's number.

"_Hello?_"

"Hey Momiji-kun." I greeted happily, "How was your day?"

"_Not bad, I just hung out with Haru and the others. We're actually getting ready to go to the beach house next week._"

"Really? That sounds so fun. I wish I could have gone with." I sighed.

"_Me too, so how is your day going?_"

"Eh, not too bad, some guy tried to flirt with me, but I stopped him easy."

"_How did you stop him..? You didn't hurt him did you? How many times do I have to tell you violence isn't the answer?_"

I giggled, "Momiji, don't worry. I didn't hurt him. He didn't piss me off that badly. I just told him I was taken and that flirting with me would have been a complete waste of effort."

"_Why would you tell him that? You're not taken…_"

"No, but I already told you, I don't want to be with anyone but you so there's not point in guys trying to flirt me. No matter how cute or suave they may be, I will always turn them down."

"_I don't want you to be alone because of me Akemi. You shouldn't be like this._"

"Oh please, we both know I'm too stubborn so you shouldn't waste the energy on trying to change my mind."

He let out a defeated sigh, "_You're right. Well I should probably go. I'll talk to you tomorrow._"

"Ok, talk to you later." I hung up the phone and went back into the main part of the coffee shop and sat back down with Jenny, "So what did I miss?"

"Hmm… Nothing really." She shrugged.

"Oh, ok, that's good…" I nodded, "So my aunt wants to take me shopping this week, you up for joining us?"

"Totally! I love shopping! Especially with your aunt, she's just so much fun. It's like having another teenager around most of the time.'

"I know. She really is, but she knows when to be an adult so it's really good." I smiled.

"So is it just clothes or do we finally get to change your look?"

"It's a complete make-over… Even the pink hair is changing." I sighed, "I'm really nervous about that though."

"Why? It's just hair."

"Yeah, but its hair I've had since I was like… nine. That was seven years ago."

"Oh, that's a long time… It'll be good for a change then. You're sixteen now and you still look ten. I think part of that is because of the pink hair. It's a little too juvenile and young looking for you. Some girls can pull it off and still look their age, but you are not one of those girls."

"Right…" I sighed.

"So what are you thinking of doing instead?"

"I was thinking black with random layers blood red."

"Ooooh, sounds cool!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm going for. Well I think I'm gonna go back to the apartment and just chill for a bit. Maybe watch some movies. You wanna come?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Ok, I'm gonna go tell me aunt." I stood up and went over to her. She was working behind the counter.

"Hey auntie, Jen and I are gonna go back to the apartment and watch movies, ok?"

"Sure, have fun sweetie. I should be there in a few hours to." She smiled.

"Ok, see you then." I returned her smile and Jenny and I left for the apartment.


	19. Chapter 19

So it's been a week since I've arrived in New York and I love it. The people are awesome, the music again, awesome, and the whole New York scene is just amazing. I love going out with the girls, basically just my aunt, a few of her friends, and Jenny. Though they keep complaining about my more Lolita look so they've decided that today is the day I get rid of my childish look and, as auntie put it, 'Flourish into the little sex kitten she knows is hidden away.'. Of course she was drunk when she said this, so I'm pretty sure the sober translation of this would have been 'beautiful flower'. Though it's not quite as funny as the original, it does make more sense and sounds a bit truer.

When I headed down the short flight of stairs to the kitchen area of the flat I rubbed my eyes and let out a loud yawn. I stretched my arms up towards the air and sat down at the counter, "Ohayo, Anita-san, and Nick-san."

"Remember your English here sweetie." Anita reminded me.

"Oh riiight…" I sighed.

My aunt set down a stack of pancakes in front of me, "So how are you doing this morning? Did you sleep well?"

I shrugged, "Ok I guess. I'm starting to feel a bit homesick though. I slept pretty well actually; I had the most awesome dream about being a Ninja and totally kicking ass. It was great."

Nick chuckled, "That's good. I'm glad it was a good dream and you were the one kicking ass, instead of the one getting their ass kicked."

"Yeah, that would have really sucked I agreed and took a bite from my plate. These were the best pancakes I've ever had. They were light, fluffy, cooked perfectly through, "These are amazing! I hope I marry a guy that's as good a cook as you are Nick. This is really brilliant!" I grinned at him.

"Why thank you. That's one of the best compliments yet."

"Mhmmm, you're welcome… Oh, so I talked to Kisa last night before I went to bed. They had just arrived at the beach house. She said it was beautiful there. Nice and green. She also said that she, Momiji-kun, and Tohru-nee were planning on catching stag beetles." I chuckled, he may look more grown up, but Momiji is definitely still Momiji.

"What's so funny? That sounds like a typical thing for them." Anita pointed out.

"True, but you wouldn't believe the contradiction between that childish behavior and Momiji's new look… Anyways, she said that Shigure had also invited Akito to come stay with them. I swear, if that bastard does anything to hurt that boy I'll crush his skull with my bare hands!"

"Well don't worry Akemi; I'm sure he'll be fine. He's got the others watching out for him after all, doesn't he?"

"Yeah… but… But still, I can't help but worry about him. He's not the strongest or most violent of the bunch, and when it comes to dealing with Akito that's exactly what you have to be." I sighed. After I finished eating up breakfast I went back up to my room, put in a CD, grabbed some clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

I got the water running and stepped in. The warmth from the water felt so good on my skin. It was really relaxing, which was exactly what I needed. I was getting a little overly worked up about this beach trip for the zodiacs. I'm sure Momiji would be fine. It's not like he'll ever be left alone with him. I washed my hair and got out of the shower. I dried off put on some jeans and a T-shirt, and went to my room to do my hair and make-up.

When I got in my room one of my favorite songs was playing. It was Hold My Hand, by New Found Glory. As I was getting ready I sung quietly and swayed with the music. I don't know what it is, but every time I hear this song I smile and have the sudden urge to dance. I guess it's just one of those things; then again, I'm like that with a whole bunch of song. But anyway~, after I finished my make-up I pulled my hair back into pigtails and then I just dance around my room and sang. Right now, at this moment, I didn't seem to have a care in the world. It's moments like this that I absolutely live for. Anytime get the chance I just forget the world around me I jump at it. After Hold My Hand ended Freunde Bleiben by Tokio Hotel came on. After dancing around and attempting to sing to that one I pulled on some converse and went into the living area.

"Jeez, took you long enough?" My aunt asked, "I don't know why you got your hair all done up, we're just going to get it redone in an hour."

"Well that's an hour that I don't feel like having my hair down." I sat down next to her on the couch.

"Oh, I see. Well come on. Sitting down was pointless. We're leaving now." She stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Right… I'm coming." I stood up and jogged to the door so she wouldn't leave without me.

When we got to the lobby I saw the blue haired girl I am so familiar with, "Hey Jenny!" I smiled. She was dressed in a black dress wit a thick black belt around her mid section and a pair of black ankle boots.

"Hey Aki-chan, are you ready for your make-over?" She asked excitedly.

"Actually, yeah, I'm really excited. I think it's about time I look my age. The change should be nice." I smiled.

"Good, I'm glad you're in that mindset." She smiled at me.

"Me too, I figure I might as well go in this with a positive attitude or else the whole day will suck and we don't want that."

"No, no we don't. Now let's get going." Anita ushered us outside to the hustle and bustle of the big city. As cars flew by in a blur of color we started look for my aunts little red corvette (yes… I just made a Prince reference. If ya'll don't know who that is go look him up cause he's iconic).

When we finally found it the three of us piled in a started the drive to the hair salon. Though my hair was the thing I was most scared of losing, it was also the thing I was most excited to change. (By now ya'll should know what she's gonna do to her hair, if not go back and look because I'm too lazy to describe it again)

After an hour in the car we finally made it to the salon. As we stepped through the large glass doors we were greeted with tons of 'hello's', 'how are you's', and 'how may I help you's'. I could tell this was going to be quite an experience, and I was ready to enjoy in it fully.


	20. Chapter 20

**XxWitheredRosexX- Ok, so this is chapter 20 ^^ I'm really proud actually because this is the farthest I've ever gotten on a story on my own. So I really hope ya'll are enjoying it. Please review! It really helps to motivate me :) **

**Momiji- I miss Aki-chan! **

**Author- I know, I know, but trust me, this is actually a pretty crucial part of the story if you only knew what was going on back home.**

**Akemi- What the hell does that mean?**

**Author- Ya'll find out soon enough, but don't worry. I promise it's good news. So on with the story!**

**Oh, but before that I suppose I should have a disclaimer… So here it is. I do not own Furuba (though that would be freaking awesome!) I only own my OCs**

After I had finally gotten sat down in the styling chair I had lost quite a lot of my confidence and excitement. I knew threw was really no turning back or else Auntie and Jenny would have my head, but yeah… I'm a bit scared. I haven't changed my look like this for about three or four years so ya'll can understand why I'm nervous, right? Well if you can't then you're completely insensitive, but don't worry, I'll still love you 'cause that's exactly how pretty much everyone else I know is.

"So what are we doing to you today, Love?" the stylist asked with a British accent. She's only a little taller than I am, I'm guessing about 5'5" (sorry if I get the feet and inches signs wrong. Those really confuse me -.-), has long, dark brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. I usually can tell if I'll like a hair stylist by their own hair style, and this girl seems to be on the same page as me, meaning she's not super fem and girly, so I'm fine with her doing it.

One I told her what I wanted she quickly got to work. "This is going to look so good. The black is really going to make our bright green eyes stand out." She commented as she started applying the color to my hair.

"Thanks, that's what I was hoping for." I smiled and my lap, she had my look down so it would be easier to cut the back.

"Well that's what you're going to get. It'll look brilliant. Now if you don't mind, since this going to be such a transformation for you I'd really like to turn you around and keep it a surprise till I've totally finished."

"You know, that's sounds really good. That way I can't see and be like 'oh crap this was a bad idea." I nodded and she spun me around in the chair so I was facing the wall and went back to work.

After about an hour she was finally finished, and turned me around. I was still looking at my lap though. I didn't want to look up. I felt like I going to puke I was so freaking nervous. But finally I took a deep breath and looked up and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I couldn't believe it. I looked so much older, and just as I wanted my eyes really popped. Of course I looked at bit paler because of the black, but I don't mind that so much.

"This is amazing! I love it. Thank you sooooo much." I praised the stylist, "You really did a magnificent job."

"Why thanks, Love, I was just doing my job." She smiled.

"Well keep doing it Dude, because you're amazing at it." I was so happy with it that I gave her a hug before I went back into the lobby where Anita and Jen were waiting for me.

When I walked out I saw each of them on either side of a black love seat flipping through some magazines. I walked in front of them and pulled the magazines out of their hands. When the looked up they were just as, if not more, shocked than I was. Anita was grinning widely at me, while Jenny's jaw was dropped, and neither of them said a single word to me.

"Uhm… So what do you think?" I asked with a sheepish smile. Their stares were starting to freak me out a bit now.

"I love it!" They both said in unison.

I let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god… So how about we go? Now that the worst part of this challenge is over it should be pretty smooth sailing." I smiled at them.

"Yeah, let's go girls." Anita stood up and led us out to the car.

When we got in the car I sat in the passenger seat and Jenny sat behind me. She wouldn't stop playing with my hair the whole way to our first store.

"I can't believe how soft and pretty your hair is dude!" She twirled some of it between her fingers.

"I know, I love it, it's just because of the hair dye though. It'll go back to its usual semi-softness soon enough." I sighed.

"Yeah… So enjoy it for now." She giggled as the car stopped and we got out going into our first store.

The place was actually pretty nice. Well obviously it's nice, we're in New York after all, but what I mean is its not super girls. It's much more my style, which is more relaxed with a punk flare. One of the first items that caught my eye was a pair of black Tripp street pants. I wasn't really expecting to find something like this here, but I was totally happy that I did. I quickly found my size and pulled them off the rack along with a white shirt with a smeary black heat on it.

"What do you think of these, Auntie?" I held them up for her to see.

"Cute, that's totally you." She smiled and continued looking through the racks of clothing. I nodded and also went back to searching the racks, pulling out a bunch of random saying shirts and jeans.

After a while I was insanely tried. I don't think I've ever looked at and tried on so many clothes in my whole entire life! When we finally got back to the flat I went to my room, set the many bags of clothing on the floor, and sat on my bed while pulling out my phone. I quickly dialed Momiji's number and waited for him to pick up. When I looked at the clock I say it was about nine o'clock here so it should be about ten a.m. there.

"Hello?" I heard his sweet voice answer; I noticed it has gotten a bit deeper since I left. I like it.

"Hey Momiji-kun, how are you?" I asked with a small yawn.

"I'm really good. How about you Aki-chan. You sound really tired." He stated.

"Oh, I'm insanely tired, but good none the less. My aunt, Jenny, and I just went shopping today. We left about ten a.m., and we just got back and it's nine o'clock."

"Wow, that's insane. How did you survive? I thought you hated shopping too."

"Yeah, that's just when it's for things I need that I hate it. I actually really enjoy it when I'm just doing it for fun." I explained.

"Oh, well that's good to hear. You should probably go to bed now though. Call me when you wake up, ok?"

"Yeah, okie dokie." I smiled, "Bye Momiji-kun, have a good day." I smiled and hung up before falling fast asleep.


	21. Chapter 21

**XxWitheredRosexX- Chapter 21 =) Sweetness! So yeah, this is the second chapter I'm writing today since I won't be able to write over the weekend (I'd try and get three in but I don't think I got enough time for that =/) Oh! And thank you to ciao2147, you're support is pretty damn awesome. And you asked for a little Momiji Akemi time so I'm going to try and get that in this chapter for you.**

**Momiji- Yays! More time with Aki-chan! ^^**

**Author- I know right? This should be quite a bit of fun. It'll be nice to hear how your beach trip is going also.**

**Momiji- yeah! I can tell Akemi all the awesome stuff that's been going on!**

**Author- exactly. So on with the story.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Furuba no matter how much I wish I did. I only own my OCs, but I they're pretty awesome so I'm totally happy with that ^^**

The next morning when I woke up and went into the living room I saw a note on the counter telling me that Anita and Nick had gone to work and they didn't bother to wake me because they knew how tired I was. I wish I could have gone with them, but at the same time I really want to just chill for a bit, I haven't really gotten to do that since I've gotten here. We've pretty much been out every night and what not.

When I looked over at the clock I saw it was about eight o'clock, not much of a sleep in if you ask me, but I feel quite refreshed and it's certainly better than seven. I felt my stomach growling so I figure I should probably get some breakfast. That's genius right? Who would have thought that, that would be a good solution? So I grabbed a bowl, a spoon, a box of cereal, and a carton of milk out of the fridge before I sat at the counter that overlooked the city.

After I finished eating it was about eight thirty, which means it's about nine thirty in Japan so I decided to give Momiji a call. After all, we haven't gotten to talk that much since I've gotten here, of course I've called every day (sometimes more) just as I promised I would. When I pulled out my phone I dialed his number, by now it's almost completely automatic, and waited for his answer.

"Hallo Aki-chan!" He greeted happily.

"Hey Momiji-kun, how was your day?"

"It was really fun. Tohru, Kisa, Hiro, and I all went out to find Stag Beatles. Yesterday we put sugar water on them to attract them and so today we went back to the same trees to see if any had come. When we got there we thought the bugs we found were Stag Beatles, but Kyo came and pointed out that they weren't… It was a little disappointing, but it wasn't so bad. The bugs we found were still pretty cool."

"That's really cool. What else has been going on?"

"Uhmm… Hiro, Kisa, and I watched the Mogeta special last night."

"What? There was a Mogeta special? And I missed it? This sucks!"

"Don't worry, I taped if for you so we can watch it when you get back." I could almost hear the smile in is voice. He also sounded really proud, which I just found adorable.

"That sounds brilliant Momiji. I'd really love that. As soon as I get back I'll come over and watch it with you. So has anything else happened?" I asked. I was really wondering about Akito, but I doubt Momiji is going to tell me about that. I'll just asked Kisa when I call her later tonight.

"Uhm… I built a sandcastle, but other than that nothing's really happened. How about you? What's been going on in New York?"

"Well, I've been hanging with Jenny a lot which is loads of fun. Yesterday they gave me a little make-over which I'm not telling you anything about because I want it to be a total surprise. Uhm… Oh! Brendon Urie, as in THE Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco, came into the shop the other day. It was amazing! He was really cool and super nice. I've always thought it'd be fun to meet him, and I'd thought about it once or twice, but never in my life would I have thought it'd actually happen and feel so natural. I mean… I was a little star struck at first, but after a little bit it felt totally normal to be talking to him. I also got to meet Derek Weebly of Sum 41. That was just epic. I got a photo and he signed my CD… Hm… What else has happened…? Sorry if I'm rambling. I know it's only been a week and a half, but quite a lot has happened."

"No, don't apologize. I love listening to you. It's nice to know you're having so much fun."

"Ok, good to know." I nodded to myself, "So let's see… Oh my god! My aunt's husband, Nick, is like… The best cook in the entire world. I'm in love with his food." I heard Momiji chuckle, I loved it. His laugh always makes me smile and want to melt. I know that's like… mega cheesiness right there, but it's really true, "Hm… Oh my Jesus! While we were shopping yesterday Jen and Anita made me try on the most ugliest dress in the entire freaking world! It was poofy, had ruffles and sparkles, and it was pink! Not even a nice pale pink, no, it was bright fucking pink! It was almost magenta. When I put it on I could feel my skin burning!" I exaggerated.

"Wow that sounds pretty horrible. I'm glad you survived that though. I don't know what I would have done if it killed you."

"You would have jumped off a cliff ASAP so you could join me in the after life because you couldn't stand the thought of living without me." I laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what I would do, and I'd do it without a second thought."

"Aw, it's nice to know I'm so loved." I smiled. I knew that was a sarcastic remark somewhat, but I still found it a bit nice.

"No problem." I heard him yawn.

When I looked at my clock it said it was now ten o'clock, which meant it was now eleven o'clock his time, "Well I think you ought to be getting to bed Momiji-kun. It's late for you and you need your sleep so you can be fun and perky tomorrow."

"But I don't want to. I want to keep talking to you."

"I don't care. You need your sleep. I'll talk to you later though, ok?"

"Ok, I'll talk to you later then." He sighed.

"Good boy. Guten natch (good night in German)" I hung up the phone and went back to my room to listen to music and read for a while.

**XxWitheredRosexX- Ok, so that was chapter 21. I hope ya'll liked it. It was pretty much all Momiji and Akemi so I hope that was to your liking ^^ **

**Momiji- Yay! I got to talk to Aki-chan! That was really fun *golomps***

**Author- Why thank you Momiji-kun! I'm glad you enjoyed it. What did you think Aki?**

**Aki- I really like it too, thanks. I hope we get to talk again soon. I need to talk to Kisa also to find out what's been going on with Akito.**

**Author- Right, that should happen next chapter.**

**Aki-ok, good, and remember people, review, review, REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 22

After going three CDs I decided to go out for a walk. Before I left I took a quick shower and got dressed in a red and black plaid skirt, black long sleeve shirt, and some black plaid extra high, high tops. I grabbed my cell phone, some money, and my key to the apartment before walking out the door and locking it.

When I got down to the lobby of the apartment building I smiled at the door man and went out into the streets. I still haven't quite gotten used to the big city. What I was getting used to though was the large amount of record store that were here. There must be a least one every block. I love it. Some of them are also recording studios so you sometimes you'll get a glimpse of a band while you're there. I'm hoping that one of these days I'll see Rise Against. I just think it would be so cool to meet the band who convinced me that I'm not lame for being a vegetarian because I used to get made fun of a lot for that when I was younger.

When I entered the one that has become my favorite in the last two weeks, it's called Alchemic Records (Sorry, I just had to put in an FMA reference... If you haven't watched/read it yet go do so! It's the best anime/manga EVER!-And now I feel the need to open up a record store with this title… that's sad-). After I closed the door behind me I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I took in the current CD they had playing.

"Good morning Akemi. How are you doing today?" the store owner, Robby, asked politely.

"I'm doing really well thank you. How about you?" I walked over to the classic rock section and started looking aimlessly through the large collection of CDs.

"Not bad, not bad. It's been a pretty slow morning so far."

"Yeah, it's still pretty early though. It is only eleven." I pointed out.

"That's true." He nodded, "So are you looking for anything specific today?"

"Nope, just browsing as usual. Seeing if there's anything I don't have that I want."

"Oh, I see… So what do you have planned for the day?"

"Well after here I plan on heading over to Paul's Bookstore and just hanging out there for a bit reading. Then I'm going out to a late lunch with my friend Jen who's going to be spending the night with me watch horror movies."

"Oh, sounds like a lot of fun." He smiled at me.

"Yeah, I think so." I nodded, "I also have to call my little cousin later to make sure everything is good with here and just see how her summer is going."

"That's nice. You seem to be pretty close with your family then?"

"Yeah, most of them. I close with pretty much everyone but my parents."

"And why not?"

"Eh, I guess it's just your typical teenage story of 'they just don't understand me' bull shit, but they really don't. Not that they even care. They're either too busy working or arguing to pay any attention lately." I sighed. 'This is weird… I'm opening up to the record store owner who I've only known for two weeks…', "Sorry, I guess I don't really know when to shut up, do I? I asked sheepishly.

"Nah, it's cool. That's how a lot of my customers. I'm their music supplier and part time therapist. It's kind of like being a hair stylist." Robby chuckled.

"Oh, ok. Well I'm glad I didn't bug you." I smiled and pulled out a Ramones CD and went up to the counter to pay for it.

After I paid for it Robby handed it back to me, "Well I'll see you later. Have a good rest of the day." I waved as I started my walk to the local bookstore.

When I stepped inside I took a minute to breathe in the new book smell before heading off through the many isles of books. I started from the far right and decided to work my way to the left. The first section I found myself in was actually young adult. As I stood there looking for a good book I felt someone tap on my shoulder. It freaked me out a bit and jumped back slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Akemi. I didn't mean to scared you." An older man apologized.

"It's ok Paul. I was really concentrated I laughed lightly, "How are you doing today?"

"No bad and yourself?" He smiled warmly at me.

"Eh, I've been better… I think my friend is hiding something from me." I sighed.

"Oh really? What do you mean?"

"Well you see…" 'How shall I explain this…?' I thought, "Well there's this bully, one of our cousins, who I'm afraid might hurt my friend. You see, they're on a trip to the beach this week and I'm just nervous that maybe he'll get in the bullies way and end up paying for it."

"Oh, I see… Well why wouldn't he tell you about that?"

"Because he doesn't want me to worry about him. He just wants to me relax and enjoy my vacation, but the fact that this might be going on and I won't even know really only stresses me out more." I sighed.

"Well is there maybe someone else you can ask about this?"

"Yeah, I'm going to call my cousin Kisa later to see what's up. I'm sure she'll know something, and she would never hide anything from me." I smiled.

"Well that's good." Paul nodded, "So are you looking for anything specific today?"

"Actually yeah, I'm looking for _Looking for Alaska_ by Tom Green, but I'll find it on my own. I feel like just hanging out here for a bit, and who knows? I might even find another been I want to read." I smiled.

"Ok, well let me know if you need anything."

"Don't worry, I will." I watched him walk away.

When I finally got home I looked at the clock and it was about one and my aunt was on the couch watching TV, "Hey sweetheart how was your morning?" she asked happily.

"Not bad, I got a few books, some CDs, and I talked to Momiji, Paul, and Robby." I smiled.

"Ha, you seem to have made friends with the store owners fast."

"Yeah… I just seem to fun my mouth too much around them. I swear it's almost as if they've become my therapists." I laughed.

"Well that's a good thing. You need to open up to someone. And sometimes it better to get a pair of fresh ears to listen and give new advice."

"Yeah, that's true." I nodded.

"So what time is Jen coming over tonight?"

"About six so I've got time to read for a bit before she comes over." I smiled.

"Ok, well you have fun with that." She smiled at me as I walked up to my room.

When I got inside my room I sat down on my bed, got at a comfortable incline, and cracked open my new John Green book. It was really amazing. It was really sad too, but I didn't want to put it down. But alas, five o'clock came and Jen came knocking on my bedroom door.

"Come on in!" I called.

"Hey there buddy. How's it going?" she asked and sat down on my bed next to me.

"Eh, not bad." I shrugged, "How are you?"

"Not bad. I've got a date with this Ryan guy tomorrow night so I'm really excited about that." She grinned.

"That's great! What's he like?"

"Tall, black hair, piercing blue eyes, an ass most guys would kill for…" she trailed off in a daze.

"Sounds hot. What about his personality?"

"Oh, he's super sweet, smart, funny, and respectful."

"Sounds like you've hit the jackpot. Way to go Jen!" I laughed.

"I know right? It's amazing. He's taking me bowling."

"Very nice, I know how much you love to bowl."

"Mhmmm. I'm super psyched. I know it's gonna be soooo much fun."

"Yeah… So you ready for scary movie marathon?"

"Hell yes!"

"Alrighty then." I nodded and went to put in the first movie. It was called 'Shrooms', and boy did that title fit. It was one of the trippiest movies I had ever seen. Almost as insane as the next one, which was called 'Death of a Ghost Hunter'. Just when you thought you had everything figured, something insane would happen and completely change your idea.

So after about four or five movies Jen ended up falling asleep while I sat there, in the dark, alone, scared shitless. So to help settle my nerves I grabbed my cell phone. It was about nine o'clock which meant now would be a good time to call Kisa to see what's going on at the beach house. I dialed her number and waited for an answer.

"Nee-chan! How are you?" she answered excitedly.

"I'm doing pretty good, and you?"

"Same, the vacation is a lot of fun. I just wish you could be here too." She sighed.

"Me too, but don't worry, I'm going to have lots of presents for your guys when I get back."

"Really? That's so nice of you!" she exclaimed.

"Mhmmm." I nodded, "So speaking of the beach house, Akito did come, right?" I asked.

"Yeah…" she said quietly, "He just arrived her two days ago."

"And has anything happened yet?"

"Well we all had to go and see him except for Tohru-chan and Kyo-kun. It was scary… It was the first time I had seen him since he beat me…"

"Oh… He didn't hurt you again, did he?"

"No, I'm fine. Hiro made sure I kept my distance from him."

"Good… Speaking of getting hurt… Momiji is fine, right? Akito hasn't done anything to him?" I asked sounding a bit worried.

"No, not really… I mean… Akio smacked him last night because he was trying to protect Tohru from him, but he's fine. He's just got a small bruise on his cheek." She explained.

"Oh… Ok, well that's good… I guess… I mean it's better then it could be." I sighed and let out a small yawn, "Well I'm going to go to bed, it's quite late here and I'm really tired. Have a good day, ok?"

"Mhmmm, sweet dreams Onee-chan." She said before hanging up on me and then I feel fast asleep.


	23. Chapter 23

**XxWitherRosexX- Ok, so I kinda feel like this New York trip is starting to drag out a bit so I think I'll end it this chapter, then we'll be back in Japan so things can start moving along a little more with Momiji-kun and Akemi-chan ^^ **

**Momiji- Yay! I can't wait to see Aki-chan! I miss her soooooo much.**

**Aki- I miss Momiji too! I can't wait to go back! It's been really fun hanging out with Jen and my Auntie though ^^**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba or anything else I mention in this story. I only own my OC's and Alchemic Records ^^ haha, I'm such a dork XD**

So the last few weeks have seriously flown by these past two months and today is my last day in New York. I can't believe how much fun I've had. I went out dancing with auntie, Jen, and a few other people, I made friends with two store owners, I met a bunch of famous people, and I got a bunch of reading done.

When I went out into the front room Nick was in the kitchen making French toast and Anita was sitting on the couch reading a tabloid magazine.

"Good morning you guys." I smiled at them.

"Good morning sweetie. Are you happy to be going home tonight?" Anita asked me.

"Eh… It's kind of bitter sweet. I'm gonna miss you guys and Jen like crazy, but I can't wait to see everyone else when I get back. I can't wait to give everyone their presents and tell them about all this amazingness." I sat down next to her on the couch and stared out the window, taking in the view one last time.

"Yeah, I know what you. Mean that's how it always is for me when I leave from a nice vacation. I'm really glad you got to come though. Next time I'll have to come see you, maybe I'll even bring Jen with me." She smiled, "I'm sure she'd just love to meet Momiji."

"Yeah, I'm sure she would. I'm also sure she'd love to tell him hundreds of embarrassing stories about me, hence, never the two shall meet."

"Oh please, I'm sure I've got more dirt on you than she does." She laughed.

"Oi… That's true… Please don't embarrass me in front of him next time you come down!" I begged.

"Don't worry; I'm sure you embarrass yourself enough all on your own."

"That's so true you don't even know the half of it." I sighed, "So what do we have more my last day in New York? Something exciting I hope."

"Why of course! I was thinking we'd just walk around New York, and then go watch the fireworks on the pier over the bay before we take you to the airport." She explained.

"Oh, that sounds lovely. I'd love to see the fireworks, and just walking around sounds like a blast." I grinned.

"Breakfast is ready you guys." Nick called from the kitchen. I bolted out of my seat and straight to the table. I was starved. I had barely eaten anything last night so I was mega hungry when I woke up, "Slow down there girl." He chuckled and set a plate in front of me. I gazed down at it happily before digging in.

After eating breakfast Anita told me to go get ready to go out so that's exactly what I did. After taking a shower, doing my make-up, and blow drying my hair I went back to my room to choose what I wanted to wear. I figured since it's what I was going to be seeing Momiji in for the first time with my new look it had to be freaking amazing. Wouldn't you agree? I finally decided on a black skirt, black and white thigh high socks, a pair of black buckled boots, a white tank with a black butterfly that look like it had been ink blotted on, and a black jacket that I zipped only about half way up so you could still see the design of my shirt (well I don't know if ya'll are gonna get the same vision of this as I am, but in my head I think it looks cool so bear with me).

When I went back into the living Auntie complimented me on how cute I looked and then she told me to follow her down stairs. When we got to the lobby I saw Jen waiting for us. I ran up and hugged her tightly.

"Dude, I'm gonna miss you so freaking much! It's not even funny!" I shouted.

"I know right? I'm gonna miss you too! I can't believe you're leaving already! It feels like you only just got here."

"I know, it's crazy, you'll have to come visit me next time though. It'll be so much fun. I'll show you all the fun spots, and you can meet my awesome family, and Momiji, and my other friends. It'll be really awesome."

"Yeah… hopefully it won't be too long till I get to do that." She sighed, "But anyways~, are you ready for the most awesome day of your life?"

"Hellz yeah!" I grinned.

"Then lets go!" she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the lobby and into the busy streets. My aunt followed soon after and pretty soon we were walking around aimlessly and going into stores when ever we felt like it.

As the day when by and the sun started to set we soon found ourselves finding a good spot on the pier above the harbor. I was beautiful how the moonlight shown on the water. When we finally found a good spot and sat down the three of us got in close and I took a picture. This one had to be one of my favorites 'cause I got a firework in the background and I was just perfect.

As we watch the fireworks burst in to colorful life I started to reflect on the past trip. I think one of my favorite parts had to have been when I saw Jen for the first time in years, that one night I stayed up by myself till about one in the morning watching sappy romances with a tub of Ben & Jerry's, which no one will ever find out about, and when I got my hair cut because that was such a liberating experience. This whole trip was about me finding myself and really accepting me so I'd say that totally happened. I felt completely new, yet completely the same. It was a weird feeling, but I loved none the less.

After the fireworks we picked up my things from the apartment and were on our way to the airport. When we arrived I got my things out of the back of the car with Anita's and Jen's help and then we went to go get my tickets and find my plane. It's a good thing we got here a bit early because we got lost for about twenty minutes until we finally got directions from a security guard that we saw walking about.

"Ok, so make sure you have a good flight. Stay safe, don't make eye contact with creepy old men, and make sure you get some sleep." Anita said as she hugged me good-bye.

"And don't forget to text me as soon as you get there so I know you didn't die. And you have to let me know what Momiji and everyone thinks of the new look." Jen practically squeezed the life out me one last time.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I know the rules and I will most definitely make sure I let you know what they all think. So I'll talk to you guys later. I'll miss you~." I took a deep breath before heading on the plane and getting prepared for my flight home.

**So yeah… Hope ya'll liked it and are glad to be getting back to the Sohma clan! Remember to please comment!**


	24. Chapter 24

After I found my seat on the plane I put my carry on just above, sat down, pulled out a book and my headphones and began to read. About ten or so minutes later I faintly heard a flight attendant tell us we would be taking off soon and to make sure we were all seated and everything. I checked to make sure I had everything and practically died when I couldn't find my phone, but when I checked one more time it ended up being in my pocket the whole time, 'Well don't I feel like a dumb ass?' I let out a small sigh of relief and continued to read. When I finally felt the turbulence of the plane I jolted forward slightly in my seat and my phone almost slipped out of my pocket, but I luckily caught, 'Hellz yeah! Thank god for bad ass ninja skill!' I cheered in my head and leaned back into my seat.

After a couple hours on the plain I ended up falling asleep. It wasn't even a very nice sleep; I was just kinda leaned up against the window with a pillow and a blanket. It wasn't very comfortable seeing as how I couldn't really move or anything, but it'll have to do. It's times like these where I wish I had someone else with me so I could use them as a pillow or something, but nooooo, I just had to go this trip alone. Once I was finally in a deep enough sleep and my thoughts weren't there to annoy me, I started to dream, it was weird. It wasn't a weird dream and it wasn't like a flashback, it was just normal. I went through my normal daily routine, I went to school, and I hung out with friends and family… The only difference was that I could hug Momiji. In fact, I could hug all the male junishi. And when I did it seemed totally natural, almost as if the curse had never even existed. I couldn't help but cry a little. I was just so happy. This was one of the best dreams I've ever had, I never wanted to wake up, but alas, my tears woke me up causing my dream to vanish.

When I opened my eyes I saw one of the flight attendants looking down at me with a worried expression, "Is everything alright here?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah… I just had a sad dream." I gave her a small smile.

"Oh, I see… So can I get you anything?"

"No, I think I'm ok for right now. Thank you though."

"Ok, well if you need anything let know, alright?"

"Will do." I nodded and got up to go to the restroom with my purse.

When I got to the small room I went over to the sink and grabbed some paper towels out of wall dispenser. When I looked my reflection in the mirror I saw that my eye liner and mascara had run and there were now black tear stains on my cheeks, and my foundation had gotten all messed up. I wet the paper towel and began to wipe away my make-up so I could re-do it. I didn't think I needed everyone to see me for the first time in two months with a jacked up face.

After I finished cleaning up in the bathroom I went back to my seat and waited for the long ass flight to end. I slept for most of it, and when it finally ended I woke up to still darkness. (Ok, so I think I got this down. Aki left at night in New York which meant it was morning in Japan. It was a thirteen hour flight so that would make in nine am in New York that she arrive in Japan –Since New York is thirteen hours behind- so that would mean she arrived at Nine pm Japan time*brain is fried*) It was weird since I got back the same time I left pretty much. (And if I am wrong about this please just bare with me and don't bother correcting me because it's not like it really matters anyways.)

When I got off the plane I went to go find my luggage on the luggage carrier thingy, that's some sophisticated stuff huh? It took me forever, but I was finally able to decipher my bags from all the others and when I turned around I was face to chest with a tall male. I couldn't tell who yet, but I knew it was male. When I looked up my eyes locked with beautiful golden brown.

"M…Momiji?" I asked quietly.

"Akemi? Is that really you?" He asked excitedly, "What happened to your hair? And… You're in a skirt willingly?" He sounded shocked, but happy none the less.

"Yes it's really me. I dyed it, and yes, yes I am. My aunt pointed out to me that I have great legs so I figure I might as well show them off." I shrugged. I heard Momiji chuckle quietly, "What's so funny?" I asked.

"Just you." He smiled, "It's so typical that'd you never realize on your own what a great body you have." I saw a hint of a smirk on his face and I blushed like mad.

"Sh-shut up!" I smacked his chest playfully, "You've obviously been spending way too much time at Shigure's. But no worries, now that I'm back I'll be sure to whip you back into your sweet innocent self."

"Good to here." He grinned.

I couldn't help but to grin back at him, 'I really, really, really missed that smile.' I thought to my self.

"Eh-hem." I heard someone clear their throat behind us and when I looked back I saw my mum and dad.

"Mommy! Daddy!" I ran and hugged them both, "I missed you guys so much!"

"We missed you too sweetheart." My mum smiled at me, "And I love the new look by the way. It's so much more grown up."

"Yeah, you look good." Dad ruffled my hair, "And you, keep your eyes off my daughters body." He glared slightly at Momiji.

"Oh, of course sir." Momiji nodded.

"Jeez dad, I'm sixteen. The boys are gonna be looking at me. You should have seen them in New York." I rolled my eyes and saw Momiji frowned, "But no need to worry, I turned every one of them down. I've got my mind set on a certain someone."

"What? Who is he? I'll kick his ass! He better not lay a finger on you!" He shouted.

"Don't worry, he's not even allowed to date yet." I sighed.

"Well good then." He nodded, "So we should probably get you home. It's late."

"Yeah, and I'm not tired. Yay for different time zones." I replied sarcastically.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get back into the swing of things soon enough." He assured me.

"Yeah, it didn't take me that long to adjust to New York so this should be just as easy right?" I asked and he only nodded in response.

On our way to the car my dad carried my things and Momiji and walked a little bit ahead of him and my mum. I grabbed his hand and smiled up at him, "Do you have any idea what it was like to not be able to see you every day?" I asked.

"I couldn't have been worse than how much it hurt not being able to see you everyday." He smiled at me and opened the back door of the car for me to get in.

"I don't know about that…" I got in a buckled and buckled my seats, but before he was able to respond my parents got there and we were headed home, 'It'll be nice to sleep in my own room again… But I have a feeling that won't last long… I can tell something isn't right with my parents.' I sighed.


	25. Chapter 25

When we got to my house I asked if Momiji could spend the night. My dad was a bit reluctant, but mum convinced him. Oh, and if this confuses some of you guys cause you might be all 'but she stays at his place all the time, what's the difference?' So to answer that, they don't know I go to Momiji's. They usually think I'm at Kisa's or Rin's.

"Thanks you guys. We'll try not to stay up to late." I kissed each of their cheeks good-night and pulled Momiji to my room. When I opened my door it looked exactly as I had left it, messy. I had clothes, and papers, and writing utensils all over the floor and my bed was still unmade, "Ah… It's good to be back." I smiled and fell back onto my bed.

"It's good to have you back."

"Mhmmm… Hey, hand me my backpack would ya?" I asked.

"Sure." He tossed it over to me and I unzipped it, "Ok, now close your eyes." I smiled.

"Do I have to?" he asked, well it was more like a whine, but you get the idea.

"Yes." I nodded and he reluctantly agreed. I pulled out a small parcel and place it in his hands, "Ok, you can open your eyes now."

When he opened them he looked down at his hand and examined the small box, "What's this for?"

"It's just a present. No reason for it." I shrugged.

"Oh, thanks." I beamed at me and began to carefully unwrap it.

When he opened it up he pulled out a silver chain bracelet with a small plaque on it with words engraved on it. After staring at it for a while he looked up at me slightly confused.

"What? It's not like it's feminine. I made sure to get you the manliest one they had." I defended, "Lot's of guys are wearing them now a day. And did you even read the inscription because that's the most important part of the whole gift."

When he looked back down he read it aloud, "Jeder sturm hat einen regenbrogen am ende, Liebe Akemi-chan." He smiled. (*translation* every storm has a rainbow at the end, Love Akemi-chan), "Thanks; I guess I'll have wear it then, won't I?"

"Of course you do! Do you have any idea how long I spent picking this out! First I had to pick what to get you, then when I decided on a bracelet I thought that was too feminine, but then I saw a bunch of guys wearing them so I thought, 'why not?' Then when we were looking at them they were so impersonal, so then I had to decide on what to engrave it with and that was actually the hardest part."

"Well I love it. That was one of the first things I taught you how to say in German other than just the basics."

"Yeah… That's exactly why I choose it… Well, that, and now you'll never forget it and when ever you're feeling down and like the world is crashing down around you, you can look at that and remember that something good will come a long. And that I love you and I'll always be there for you." I smiled.

"Well thank you so much. I'll wear it all the time." He yawned and slipped in on his wrist, "Well I'm sorry, but I'm really tired."

"it's fine, I'm actually at bit sleepy also… Besides, I gotta rest up. It's gonna take a lot of energy to scold you tomorrow." I laid down and rested my head comfortably on my pillow.

"What? What do you mean scold me?"

"You'll see." I smiled.

"Well what ever it is I'm sure it won't last long. It never does."

"We'll see about th-" I was cut off by a gentle kiss, "W-what do you think you're doing? What if my dad had opened the door just then? What if you slipped and fell on top of me and turned into a rabbit?" I asked as he pulled away.

"I think I was kissing you good-night, and none of that actually happened, so what does it matter?" he asked.

"I-It matters because that is most definitely a possibility and I don't need to be getting in trouble my first night back from the states."

"Well you need to relax. You're parents have been asleep for a while and I have much better balance than you do so I doubt I would have slipped."

I glared at him, "What ever. Just go to bed."

"Ok, good night." He kissed my forehead before falling asleep on a sleeping back in the middle of my floor. I didn't actually get to sleep for a really long time, but when I did eventually fall asleep it was really deep and dreamless.

**So sorry this chapter was so short… But I feel that if I keep going it'll end up being to long and it won't really flow together well as a chapter in whole. But the next one should be longer. Remember to please comment! They're what keep me updating ^^**


	26. Chapter 26

The next morning when I woke up I was glad to see Momiji still asleep, but then I looked at the clock and I realized just why he was still asleep, it was three in the morning. 'Great… Hello Jet lag.' I sighed and went into the living room to see if there was anything worth watching on the TV. Luckily there was an early morning Mogeta marathon. I ended up watching that for about two hours and then I moved on to watching some girlie show called "Say Yes to the Dress" (which I do not own. All right go to who ever came up with it). Even though it was just a bunch of girls trying to find their wedding dress it was surprisingly entertaining. There was a bunch of drama, usually between the mother and the bride. For some reason the moms seem to think they get to choose the dress and their opinion is more important than that of the bride. I find that completely ridiculous. It's not like they're gonna be the ones wearing it. Also, the budgets are insane! Some of them are willing to pay 21,000 for a dress they're going to wear only once. It's just crazy.

About three hours later I heard someone coming in the living room, 'Shit! What if they catch me watching this crap? My anti-girlie rep will be ruined!' I screamed in my head and tried to change the channel, but the clicker decided to be a douche this morning and not work.

"What the hell are you watching?" I heard my dads voice ask from behind me.

"Er… Nothing…" 'Thank god it's just dad.' I sighed.

"Aki-chan! Are you watching a dress show? Are you sure you're the real Aki-chan? Quick! What who's the only member of Rise Against who isn't straight edge?" I heard Momiji ask as he sat down next to me.

"That's easy; it's Brandon, the drummer. And there was nothing else on so it's not like I was watching it willingly." I defended.

"Well you could have gone to read or something else." He pointed out.

"What ever. I'm still mad at you." I glared.

"What? What did I even do?"

"You didn't tell me that Akito hit you! I had to find out from Kisa!"

"I… I just didn't want you to worry. It wasn't that bad and I didn't want to ruin your trip or anything."

"That's no excuse Momiji! When something happens to you like that I want to know. No matter what kind of mood I'm in I think I deserve to know!"

"Why do you have to know if it'll just put you in a bad mood?"

"Because you're my best friend and I care about you so I deserve to know these things! Now he hit you just because you were trying to protect Tohru! That is no excuse to hit you!" 'And he's not going to get away with it!'

"So how come I hide a small slap and you freak out, but you're allowed to hide that he completely beat you?"

"That… That was different! And once I told you about it that was supposed to be the start of no secrets between us! I haven't hidden a single thing from you since then!"

"I'm sorry… I just… I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"Well next time fucking think about it!" I shouted before running out of the house, 'great… first day back and I'm yelling at Momiji because I'm angry at Akito. Just lovely.' I thought sarcastically I ran around the Sohma estate. When I finally stopped I looked up and found myself in front of Akito's house thinking. I'd like to think of it more as his lair seeing as how he's just an evil villain.

When I walked up to the door I was stopped by Kureno, "What do you think you're doing?" he asked with his usual stoic expression.

"I'm going to talk to that bastard! He hurt Momiji-kun and he's not going to get away with it!" I went to run to the door, but he stopped me.

"I don't think so. Unless you want to get hurt too you better stay away from him. Akito-san is in an especially bad mood right now."

"I don't care! I'm glad he's pissed off and I'll gladly make him even more so!"

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that." He lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder and began to take me back to my house.

"Put me down!" I commanded and pounded my fists on his back.

"No." He replied calmly as I continued to hit him.

When we finally back at my house Kureno knocked on the door and my mum opened it, "Kureno? It's a surprise to see you here. I haven't seen you in forever. To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked.

All he did in reply was set me down on the porch step in front of her.

"Akemi?" she asked confused.

"I found her going to run into Akito's. She seemed pretty upset and I didn't want a repeat of last time so I figured I should bring her back here."

"Thank you Kureno. I'll be sure to make sure she stays here. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?" she asked politely.

"I'm sorry, but I have to get back to Akito. Thank you for the offer though." He turned and walked back to Akito's.

After he was gone my mom grabbed my arm and dragged me back into the house, "What the hell were you thinking Akemi? Why would you go back there! You know you're no match for Akito! You remember what happened last time don't you?" she shouted at me. I don't think I've ever seen her quite this angry with me.

"I… I just… he hurt Momiji. I can't just let him get away with that!" I shouted and punched the wall. That only hurt my hand. I didn't even leave a dent.

"I know he did, but that is no reason to get hurt even worse. Momiji is fine. He was lucky enough to only get hit once. If you go there right now think of how much worse you would get it. Is that really worth it?" She asked me.

"Y-" I was cut off by someone else before I even got the chance.

"Don't even say yes Akemi. Seeing you hurt would be worse than any physical pain. It wouldn't be worth it at all because you'd be hurting me, which is exactly what you're trying to keep from happening." Momiji walked over and stood in front of me and my mum walked out of the room so the two of us were left alone.

I bit my lip and looked down at my shoes, "I-I'm sorry. I just…"

"I know. You just hate that he can get away with it, but there is really nothing you can do about it." He sighed, "After you told me what Akito did to you I was ready to go kick Akito's ass, but Hatori stopped me and told me that it wouldn't be worth it. My getting beaten wasn't going to make what happened go away."

"Woah… Did you just… curse?" I asked shocked.

"Is that seriously the only thing you took from that?" Momiji asked annoyed.

"No, I heard the rest of it. That was just a bit of a shocker. In all six years that I've known you, you've never cussed once."

He sighed, "Yeah, well I've never really been that angry before."

I nodded, "Yeah… But thank you. I'm glad you didn't go see him. I don't know what I would have done if you had cause it would have kinda been my fault if you got hurt."

"No… I would have been my choice, but don't worry about it. It's all over now." He hugged me, but it only lasted a second seeing as how he poofed into his rabbit for, but that was ok with me. I picked up his clothes and carried him to my room were I hugged him for a while longer before he turned back and put his clothes back on.


	27. Chapter 27

After hanging out with Momiji for a bit I decided to go and visit with Kisa. I haven't gotten to see my favorite little cuz in so long I really can't wait to see her. It should be lots of fun. Plus, I can't wait to give her, her amazing present. They were small things, but I knew she would love them. When I arrived at her house I was first greeted by her mother, "Akemi! It's so great to see you again! How was your trip? Did you meet and cute boys? I just love what you've done with your hair. And the new clothes are so cute. I love this top." She continued to ramble for a few minutes before I was actually able to answer her.

"Thanks, I great to see you again too. My trip was absolutely amazing. I met tons of cute guys, but none of them can ever add up to the one I'm actually crushing on." I smiled and gave her a hug.

"OoooOooo, who's the lucky guy?" she asked.

"Erm… Just someone…" I blushed lightly.

"Oh, I see how it is. I'm not going to get it out of you am I?" She sighed, but was still smiling at me.

"Nope, I'm sure I'll tell you one day though." I smiled back at her, "So where's Kisa?" I stepped inside.

"Oh, she's just in her room." She pointed down the hall.

"Thank you –insert Kisa's mum's name-." I walked down the short hallway and knock on Kisa's door. I heard a small 'I'll be right there.' a few minutes before she opened the door.

"O-onee-chan?" she asked excitedly and as soon as I nodded she tackled me to the ground with a hug, "I missed you so much Onee-chan!"

"I know, I missed you a lot too." I smiled, "And just as I promised, I've got presents." I grinned and handed her medium size bag which held a few items.

"For me?" her eyes lit up.

"Of course silly, you're my favorite cousin so of course I got you a few things."

"Oh, what about Momiji?" she asked.

"Well for him I just got one nice, expensive, meaningful thing, but that's not to say that yours aren't meaningful… I just got him something… erm… Extra special… Wait that still sounds wrong…" I heard her start to giggle as I continued rambling.

"It's fine. I know what you mean." She smiled and began to open her presents. First was a pretty silver chain with a small lamb pendant on it, second was a cute little stuffed doggy, third was a tiger print jacket with ears on the hood, and last was cute little poem book that I thought she would enjoy.

"Thank you so much nee-chan! I love them so much!" she put her dog in between two of her pillows atop of her neatly made bed, hung the jacket up in her closet, place the poem book on her bookshelf, and attempted to put the pendant around her neck.

"What some help with that?" I asked and she nodded in response. She turned around for me and I quickly did the clasp for her, "That looks really cute on you." I complimented.

"Thanks, I really love it. It looks like Hiro-kun." She smiled softly as she spoke his name.

"Yeah, that's actually why I bought it for you. I'm really glad you like everything, but if you end up not liking the poetry book you can just give it back to me. I just thought you might enjoy it. It's not super childish, but I don't think it's too old for you either. Some of the poems are very romantic, and use a more Shakespearian tone so if you need help understanding them, feel free to ask me."

"Will do." She nodded, "So tell me about New York. What's it like there?"

"Well it's huge. In some respects it's a lot like Tokyo, what with the tall buildings and being very fashion oriented, and overly populated. I met a lot of nice people. There were actually two stores where I became a bit of a regular and became good friends with the owners. One was a bookstore and the other a record store. Both were very nice, and on my last purchases they actually let me have them for free as a sort of going away present."

"That sounds really fun. I hope I can go there one day."

"You know what then?" I asked.

"What?" she looked up at me with quizzical eyes.

"When you're older I'll have to take you. It'll be so much fun. We can stay with Anita, and go shopping, and got out and party it up a few nights. And oh my Jesus, Nick, Anita's husband, is the best cook in the entire world so you'll definitely have to have him cook for you."

"That sounds great! Maybe we could even have Hiro come with us!" She said sounding hopeful.

"Of course, that would be so much fun. I'm sure you could even persuade him into dancing with you when we go out." I smiled when I saw her blush lightly.

"Yeah… I probably could." She giggled slightly, "I don't know why, but he's always so nice to me. He's always making sure I'm happy and everything. He sacrifices a lot just to make me happy and I'm really grateful to have a friend like him."

"Yeah, he's pretty much your guardian angel, always there to look out for you and keep you happy. One day when you're older I'm sure you'll realize exactly why he is that way." I smiled and laid on my back on her floor. While I stared at her ceiling I felt really content. And not even content. It was much more than that. I guess for once I was really happy and I don't think anything can knock me down. Except for my parents arguing, but even then I'll just go see Momiji. And that always makes me feel so much better.


	28. Chapter 28

"So how are you planning on spending the last week of summer?" Kisa asked, breaking me away from my thought.

"I dunno really. I was kind of planning just on hanging out with you people. Maybe a day trip to a zoo, I think that'd be a lot of fun. I feel bad that the animals are caged up and everything, but they're taken good care of for the most part. So I'd love to see them."

"That sounds like it'd be a lot of fun." Kisa agreed, "Oh! So your birthday is coming up this month, do you have any idea what you're gonna do for it?"

"Hm… Actually I don't… It's my sweet sixteen and all, but I don't want to do anything big, maybe just a small party at home or something. It'll be on a weekday so it won't be on my actual birthday or anything."

"Yeah… That's true. A small party sounds fun though. You can have lots of fun games and stuff."

"Yeah, that would be really fun." I smiled and stood up, "Well I should probably get going. I promised mum I'd be home most of the day to spend time with her and stuff. So I'll see you later Kisa-chan." I gave her a hug good-bye before starting my walk home.

When I finally got back I saw my mum cleaning up in the kitchen as usual. I took a seat at the dining room table across from where she was and hugged my knees to my chest to get a bit more comfortable.

"So, tell me about New York. Our phone calls were only brief so I'm really curious about you did." She smiled over at me.

"Uhm… Well let's see… I met Brendon Urie and Danny O' Donoghue so that was really awesome. I made friends with two store owners who were really nice and actually gave me a free purchase the last day I saw them as good bye present. We did a lot of shopping, as you can see since I can home with two more bags of luggage than what I left with… Uhm… I hung out with Jen a lot. That was really fun. I bought some nice presents for a few people… We went out dancing a few nights too which was really fun. Uhm… That's about it. Oh! And did you know Nick is like… one of the best cooks in the whole world? He made breakfast for me almost every morning. It was really amazing."

"Sounds like my sister and her husband certainly spoiled you. I'm glad you had such an amazing time while you were there. What sort of presents did you get everyone?"

"Oh, just some little gifts… I got Momiji-kun a men's bracelet with an inscription on it. I got Kisa a jacket, a pendant, a poetry book, and a stuffed animal. I got you special edition Star Trek: Enterprise DVD set, and I got dad a nice watch."

"Wow, that's so sweet of you. What did the inscription on Momiji's bracelet say?"

"Well in English is translates to 'every storm has a rainbow at the end', but I put it on in German."

"And what significance does that have?"

"That was the first thing he taught me in German other than the basics."

"Oh, how nice." She smiled, "Well go get washed up, lunch will be ready soon."

"Mkays, will do." I got up from me seat and skipped off to my room. When I got inside I closed my door, turned up my music, and proceeded to change into something more comfortable and casual. I got on a pair of baby blue basketball shorts and a white tank before I washed my hand in the bathroom and went back into the kitchen.

For lunch mum had prepared some amazing looking onigiri. It's been forever since I've had some homemade Japanese food so I just couldn't wait to dig in. Once she set a plate in front of me I began to stuff my face. It was really delicious.

"Thank you oka-san, this is really awesome!" I said through mouthfuls.

"Good, I'm glad you like it." She smiled at me and sat down in the chair across from me.

Unlike myself, my mother ate her food very neat and delicately. I felt like quite the pig right now, but I really didn't care. I realized that I hadn't had food in over at least six hours since breakfast, and that was only a small bowl of cereal, "So when is dad getting home tonight?" I asked before I took a sip of my Dr. Pepper (the best soda in the whole wide world!).

"Who knows these days? He's been working late at the office a lot so probably not till about midnight, why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering. I wanted to give him his present soon, but I guess it can wait till tomorrow." I smiled and finished up my lunch.

"Yeah, I suppose that's what you'll have to do." She sighed.

"Mhmmm," I let out a small yawn, "Well I think I'm gonna go take a nap, cause to my body right now it's about two in the morning."

"Ok, sleep well sweetheart." She said as I stood up and went to my room.

I turn on my new Alex Day CD (he's a youtuber called "nerimon" if you haven't heard of him you should really look him up. I think he's really cool. He does music and vlogs so you should look at both 'cause he's absolutely amazing. I also suggest Charlieissocoollike aka- Charlie McDonnell he also does music and vlogs-video blogs-), turned down the lights, got under my covers, and soon had entered my favorite place, Dreamland.

**Again… Sorry if this one is so short… But again, I don't feel like I could have written much more in this without it getting to not flow well together as chapter. Also, how bad ass am I for getting THREE chapters in one day? I'd say pretty damn bad ass XD So yeah, hope you at least like what I wrote in this chapter. I know Momiji hasn't really appeared in this one or the last, but I promise he'll be in the next one! And please, please, PLEASE review people! It really helps to inspire me knowing that people are actually enjoying my story and I'm not just wasting my time writing this.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Soooo… After turning off my computer, turning on some music and getting into bed… I kinda realized what a dumb ass I was last chapter -.- you see, I said that if I wrote more it wouldn't flow well as a chapter, but then, as I was thinking about, I realized I only had Aki take a nap, not actually go to bed. So I could have actually written a lot more and it would have flowed, but alas I was tired and drained from working all day so that didn't happen. So in this chapter I will awkwardly be staring from Aki waking up from her nap. Usually I prefer to start a new day every chapter or somewhere that seems like a good start from the last like waking up from a plane trip or something, but oh well. So sorry for the mistake last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one. Please remember to comment ^^ you know you want to. It makes me happy and it should make you feel like you made a difference because the more comments I get the more I will write =)**

So after about three hours I woke up from my nap and it was six o'clock. I didn't really want to wake up, but I knew that if I didn't I wouldn't be able to sleep later and I would be waking up at two in the morning again. When sat up and looked outside it was still pretty bright out so I thought I'd go see Sakura for a bit. I hate that my parents won't allow her in the house. She's such a nice dog. It's not like she'd chew up the furniture or anything, but no matter what I say the answer is always no and the really sucks.

When I got outside I immediately had Sakura jump me and pull me down to the ground. She started licking my face so much, it was actually pretty gross. I didn't mind that much though, it has been a while since I've seen her.

"Hey Sakura-chan. I missed you so much." I held her in a tight hug after I freed myself from her paws that had my pinned to the ground. All I got in response was a low bark, "I know, tell me about it." I laughed, "So I almost did something really stupid today. I was going to go tell Akito off, but Kureno stopped me and brought me back home. I'm really glad he did that seeing as how that, for me, pretty much would have been suicidal. I'm no match for Akito and that really pisses me off. I want to be able to protect my friends. I mean… He's hurt, Momiji, Kisa, Rin, and Hatori, and all the junishi. It's not right that he can get away with it, but I guess it is what it is no matter how I feel about it, right?" Again, all I got in response was a low growl, but what do you expect from a dog. I heard my mum call me in saying dinner was ready and I stood up, "Well thanks for listening to me Sakura, I'll be back later." I kissed the top of her head before going into the kitchen for dinner.

"So I hope you're hungry for yakisoba." My mum smiled at me as she placed the dish on the hot pad in the center of the table.

"It looks amazing. Thanks." I nodded and served myself some on a plate.

"So I talked to your father and he's not actually coming home tonight. He's decided to stay with a friend down near his work. He's very tired so he wanted to be able to get to sleep as soon as possible, and with work being an hour away from here he's just going to stay with his partner down there." She explained to me.

"Oh…" I frowned, "Ok then. I guess him present will just have to wait." I said as I took a bite of my dinner.

"Yes, he should be here tomorrow night." She nodded.

After finishing up a dinner I decided to take Sakura out on a walk. I got her leash that was hanging by the door, attached it to her collar and took her around the side of the house so she wouldn't have to actually walk through the living room and track dirt on the floor.

When we were passing by Shishou's dojo I noticed Tohru walking out of it and went up to her, "What are you doing here Tohru? Did you come with Kyo to practice or something?" I looked around for the cat.

"Oh… No, I came here on my own…" she answered quietly.

"Really, how come?"

"Erm… I don't know… But if you see anyone else please don't tell them I came here."

"By anyone you just mean the people you live with right? 'Cause I promised Momiji I wouldn't keep anything from him anymore so if I keep this from him I'll be going back on my word which is something I would really rather not do. So... Yeah, he's the only one I tell."

"Uhm… Ok… Just make sure no one else finds out…"

"Ok… So what were you doing in there? And don't lie to me Tohru. You're like sister to me, and sisters don't lie to each other."

"I…" She let out a small sigh, "I was asking about how to end the curse…" she looked down at her shoes.

"Oh, I see… I should have known." I smiled, "I went to Shishou… I think it was about two years ago… Yeah, that sounds about right. After about a year of knowing about the curse and seeing Momiji having to deal with it, and not having a real family because of, I just wanted to end it for him. Watching him suffer is really hard. He never shows it, but deep down I know it really bothers him. I'm hoping that one day I'll get him to show me that side of him, but for now he just covers it up and acts really happy. Which is fine… But it's not good to keep feelings hidden away. He never lets me hide emotions, so I don't see why he does." I sighed, "But let me guess. You want to end it for Kyo, right? You heard about what's going to happen after he graduates and you want to stop that from happening."

She nodded, "Yeah… I just… He's such a great guy… so kind, and gentle… I don't want to see him go away." I noticed tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Are we talking about the same Kyo here? 'Cause last time I checked the Kyo I know is rude, tough, and kind of a hard ass."

"I know… But that's just cause you've never seen the other side of him. He's actually really sweet, and caring, and scared. I think one of the reasons he's so mean is to hide the fact that he's also scared about what will come after high school…"

"Yeah, and you're probably right. No one's been able to break it yet, but Akito is really nervous about you, and you're really special, so maybe you're what they've been waiting for."

"I really hope so…"

"Me too…" I petted the top of Sakura's head.

"Well I should get going. It's starting to get late. I'll see you later Aki-chan."

"See you Onee-chan. I hope everything go well for you." I smiled before heading back home.

Before I even stepped through the door I could hear my mum shouting. 'She must be talking to dad on the phone…' I thought. I waited outside a bit to listen to what she was saying.

"You know your daughter bought you a gift while she was in New York and she wants to give it to you, but she can't because you're at your fucking girlfriends!.. I don't give a shit! She's your daughter! Don't you at least care enough about her to come home for at least one night?... Well fine then! You have fun telling her the truth about our separation!"

That was about all I could take. I quickly put Sakura back in the back yard and took off running as tears streamed down my face. I can't believe this. Why would they wait so long to tell me something like this? And they were even trying to act like everything was fine last night… If they thought they were 'protecting' me they were dead wrong. I think this hurt a lot worse than them just coming out and saying it to my face.

When I arrived in front of Momiji's door I banged loudly and rapidly on it. When he opened the door I just wanted to jump into his arms and cry on his shoulder, but since I couldn't do that I ran into his room and crashed onto his bed, grabbing a pillow and holding tightly to my chest.

"Woah… What's wrong Aki-chan?" he walked over and sat on the bed next to me and rubbed my back soothingly.

"M-my parents… They're… They're separated!" As soon as the words came out of my mouth the tears worsened.

"What? How did you find out?" he asked, sounding rather shocked.

"When I came home from walking Sakura I heard my mum yelling… I… I heard her talking to my dad… A-apparently he's at…at his… girlfriend's." I choked out and clutched the pillow even tighter.

"I'm so sorry… That has to be the worst way to find out…" he continued rubbing my back.

"Yeah… It really sucks. I just… I don't know what to do. How am I supposed to tell them I know? How… How am I ever going to face them again? I don't think I'll be able to look at either of them without bursting into tears! I and you know how much I hate crying in front of people! You're one of the only people I feel comfortable crying in front of!" I shouted.

"I know… I don't know how, but if you want I'll be there with you. I don't want you to have to go this alone." He stroked my hair and wiped away a few tears with his thumb.

"I-I'd really appreciate that… Thank you… so much…" I said before closing my eyes and falling asleep. It wasn't a pleasant sleep though. It was hellish, I kept hearing my mum's side of the argument over, and over, and over…

**So yeah… That was chapter 29. Let me know what you think ^^**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey people… So I'm really sorry it's been awhile since I've updated. I've just been really busy getting ready for school cause sadly I start up in only a week =[ So updates won't be coming as consistently, but it won't be that bad. So yeah, just wanted to say sorry and I promise to keep updating somewhat consistently after school starts.**

The next morning when I woke up I saw a note on the table beside Momiji's door telling me he and Haru had to go to Shigure's but he would be back around one. So in order to pass the time I got out of bed and went into the living room where I saw Hatori.

"Ohayo Hatori-san." I sat down on the couch next to him.

"No need to be so formal Akemi. How are you feeling this morning?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Uhm… I'm guess Momiji-kun told you want happened… So I guess I'll answer truthfully." I sighed, "I feel like shit. I don't think I've been this upset in years… I just don't know what to do. What if my dad gets custody and moves away? I won't be able to see Momiji or Kisa anymore!"

"That won't happen. You mom won't let that happen. She loves you too much to let that happen. So don't worry about it. Why don't you guys go do something fun today?" He asked.

"Like what?"

"Haven't you guys been talking about going to the water park before school starts back up?"

"Yeah, we have…"

"Then go do that. It'll help keep your mind off it."

"Yeah, I guess so. I'll just go get my bathing suit and stuff…" I sighed and stood up. I really didn't want to go back home right now, but it's not like I was gonna stay there long. I was just gonna pick up a few things and be on my way again.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Hatori asked kindly.

"No, I got it. I'll be back in a few." I walked out of his house and started walking towards my own. I was going pretty slowly, it's not like I was in a rush or anything. Momiji and Haru wouldn't even been back till one and now it's only ten, 'Just three hours…' I sighed. I, being the klutz I am, of course wasn't paying attention to my feet and didn't see the large rock in the middle of my path until it was too late and I tripped over it. The pain was pretty intense since I landed on a shit load of gravel that completely scraped up my knees. It also really stung because of the dirt that was getting in the cuts.

When I stood up and I slapped my hands together to get rid of some of the dirt on them and then I started walking home even slower with a slight limp. When I finally reached home I was glad to see my mum was out. I took bent down and go the spare key from under the welcome mat and opened the door. I walked in and when straight to the bathroom where I cleaned of my knees with antiseptic wipes and the bandaged them up with some gauze-y stuff I found laying around.

Once that was finished up and grabbed the rest of my stuff and started walking back to Hatori's. This time I made sure to watch my step. When I got back I went straight to Momiji's room to wait for him. To occupy myself I decided to play some video games. I picked out Kingdom Hearts II. When I put it in I chose my saved game and started to play. I was up against the last guy and right now, I was determined to beat him. I've tried like twenty times before this, but I've never been this pissed either. So maybe my anger would give me the strength to beat him once and for all.

I took a deep breath and began my fight. I can't even count how many times I died. I think I lost track at ten -.- I don't even know how long it's been, but it must have been long enough because my eyes were starting to hurt from staring at the screen for so long.

So right when I was about make a winning blow I heard a door open and it scared me so I jumped, completely losing focus and the battle. I was so pissed, until I saw who it was. Right when I looked into those soft brown eyes all my anger seemed to almost melt away.

"What happened to you knees?" He looked at my bandaged legs with concern.

"Oh…heh… I tripped over a rock on my way home. No biggy." I gave him a halfhearted smiled.

"You know you really need to learn to be more careful Aki-chan. I don't need you getting hurt." He walked over and sat down next to me on the edge of his bed.

"I know… I'm fine… Really… It's just a couple scratches. They'll heal up in no time." I assured him, "So what were you doing at Shigure-san's?"

"Oh, Haru had to give him something and he asked me to go with. Nothing exciting."

"Oh, I see." I nodded, "So… We're going to the water park today."

"Ok, sounds fun." He smiled.

"Yeah…" I looked up at him a kissed him, "I… I really appreciate you being here Momiji… You have no idea." I rested my head on his shoulder, "I don't know what I would do without you."

**So yeah… That was kinda short… I'm sorry I promise the next one will be longer though! Please remember to comment! It will help motivate me to update :D**


	31. Chapter 31

**Ok, so I am SO SO SO SO very sorry. I know it's been MONTHS since I've updated last, but junior year is wayyyyyy harder than I thought. I thought people were exaggerating when they said it's the hardest year, but they weren't. I've actually been taking naps, which is something I've NEVER done before unless I was sick. So yeah, don't expect constant updates, but I'm getting a bit more used to the hecticness of it all, and I'm feeling a bit more inspired for this story. I had lost that for a while, but now it's back and I'm hoping to write again. I've even started some original stuff so if you like my writing you should go check it out on . I'm XxKyoshiReinhardxX :D **

After a few minutes of just sitting in silence I lifted my head off of Momiji's shoulder and took a deep breath, "So we're going to the water park."

"Alright, sounds fun." He smiled at me, "Who else are we taking?"

"Uhm… I don't feel like anyone else being there cause then I'll have to explain why I'm all sad. Plus, it's been forever since just the two of us have done something together." I smiled.

"Ok, that sounds great." He nodded, "And you're right. It has been awhile since we've done something fun that was just the two of us. This will be like a date!" He grinned.

I blushed, "Y-yeah, like a date." 'OhmyJesus! A date! I can't believe he's going to call it a date! This is like… one of the best days EVER!' I screamed in my head.

"So you should probably go get changed." He pointed out.

"Right… I'll be right back." I grabbed my bathing suit and board shorts and headed to the bathroom. I took my pants of carefully so I didn't mess up my bandaging and got the rest of my bathing suit on. The suit was black with dotted white lines in a diamond patter and the top was held together by white sting. The shorts were just a plain white with the maker's logo on the top right side. I tied my hair up in pig tails, put on some sunscreen, and went back to Momiji's room where he was pulling his shirt down over his head. I caught a glimpse of his stomach and I wasn't disappointed.

Last time I saw him shirtless he didn't have a chubby tummy, but it was nothing to brag about, but now he's got a pretty visible six pack, "Looks like someone's been working out." I smirked.

"Yeah, well we went to the pool a lot so I figured I should be pretty fit."

"Oh, so you did it to impress all those other girls? I bet they must have been all over you." I glared.

"I didn't do it for them… And yeah, they were, but I didn't flirt back or anything!" He defended.

"Yeah, still… Oh well, now you've got me going with you so there's no way in hell I'm letting a single girl get too close!" I laughed and got a shirt on over my top.

"Good, I hate having to be rude to them." He walked over wrapped his arms around my waist, but to my surprise, there was no poof and no cute little bunny sitting in front of me.

"Wh-why aren't you changing?" I gasped.

"I don't know… My curse was lifted, but so far it's only me…"

"I-I can't believe this! How long have you known?"

"I just found out this morning. I felt a little emptier and I don't know… it was just gone… I'm… I'm really glad though. Cause now I can hug you." His grip tightened and I felt a few tears leak out of my eyes.

"Me too, you have no idea how amazing this is right now…"

"I think I've got a pretty good idea." He kissed my cheek, "So you ready to go?"

"Mhmmm," I nodded, "Come on!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him out to the living room, "We're leaving Hatori-san! See you later!" I called and we ran out the door to the bus station. We could've had Hatori take us, but I didn't feel like bothering him to do that right now.

When we got to the bus stop and waited for it to get here Momiji sat down on the bench and I sat down on his lap, "So… Does anyone else know that it's gone?" I asked.

"No, you're not even supposed to know it's gone."

"Then why did you tell me? What if _he _finds out? He'll certainly make me lose my memories then!"

"Relax Aki. He's not going to find out. It's not like he'll just show up outside the estate and see us hugging or something. Just make sure you don't do anything in front of Shigure because he really can't be trusted…" He sighed.

"Oh… Ok." I nodded, "I still can't believe it. This is just too amazing." I smiled, "Just when I thought everything was going to hell this happened and I can still smile." I kissed his cheek and the bus came and we got on.

After about an hour the bus stopped at our destination and we go off. It was actually pretty nice out and it was a pretty perfect day to be at the water park. The place wasn't completely packed, but it was still pretty full. I grabbed Momiji's hand to make sure I wouldn't get separated from him, "So what do you want to go on first?" he asked.

"Uhm… How about that one?" I asked excitedly pointing at a large water slide.

"What ever you want." He smiled and we started walking towards it.

When we got to it I couldn't believe how tall it was! It was freaking gigantic! I was starting to feel a little reluctant to it, but I can't back out now. I'm sure it won't be that bad. I took a deep breath and we started walking up the steps to get to the top.

"You ready?" He smiled as I sat down and put our shirts and the locker thingy.

"Uhm… Sure..?" I gave a nervous smile and felt my stomach sink when I looked down.

"You'll be fine Akemi. Don't worry about it." He gave me a kiss before I dropped down the fully enclosed slide. It was a pretty good adrenaline rush.


	32. Chapter 32

After going down a few more slides I started to get hungry, "Uhm… Momiji-kun?" I asked quietly as she pulled herself out of one of the pools.

"Yeah Aki?" he smiled down at me and offered me a hand.

"Well… I'm kinda hungry…" I my tummy started to grumble as if on cue.

Momiji chuckled, "Well then we should probably get something to eat. What would you like?"

"Hmmm… PIZZA! Oh, and a Dr. Pepper and…cotton candy!" I grinned, "And maybe a churro."

"Jeez, you really are hungry, aren't you?"

"Majorly…" I sighed. We walked up to a booth and I ordered my food. When I went to pay Momiji stopped me.

"Hey, this is a date. I should be the one to pay." He said.

"I don't want to make you pay for me Momiji…" To be honest, I really didn't. It felt weird to have him do something like that for me.

"You're not making me. I'm offering." He assured and handed the money over to the cashier. We went to the other side where they handed me my food and then we went and found a seat.

We found a small, round table under a nice, shady, oak tree. There weren't too many people walking around so we were able to have conversation without interruptions. "So I had the weirdest dream last night…" I started off.

"Really? What was it?" he asked as he took a sip from my drink.

"Well, we were in New York with my aunt and it was just really strange. Like, everyone was being extremely nice to me and I couldn't decide if they were being nice because they just were, or if it was because something really bad happened, and in the end… I found out my parents were gone…like…dead gone, but the morbid thing was… I didn't feel an ounce of remorse. I was just kinda numb inside."

"Oh…wow… I… I really find that bad, and I'd love to talk about it, but…that's not exactly good first date talk." Momiji sweat dropped.

"Oh my god, you're right! I completely for got this was a date! I am soooooooo sorry!" I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment.

"Its fine, Hun." He smiled at me, "I know it's been a ruff few days for you so if you want to talk about you're dream, then we'll talk about it."

"Y-you called me hun." I looked up shocked.

"Erm…yeah… I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I like it. You've just never done it." I returned his smile, "And it's fine. I don't want to talk about it right now anymore. Right now let's focus on trying to be a normal couple who doesn't have any unusual issues at home." I took a bit of my pizza.

"Uhm… How do we do that?" He asked with an adorably confused look on his face.

"It's really simple, we just don't think about home." I leaned across the table and kissed him lightly, "And do cutesy couplely things like hold hands, win cheesy carnival stuffed animals, and eat nummy carnival foods." I feed him a piece of cotton candy.

"Sounds good, not sure how long I can go without thinking about home, but we'll see how this goes." He nodded.

"Good." I finished eating, "Now come on. I'm going to win you a present." I ginned and pulled him off to where the games were.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one to win you the present?"

"Typically, yes. But I want to stay away from the typical thing when it comes to us dating because I'm not your typical girl, and you're not a typical guy. Which, might I add is one of the many, many reasons why I like you so much?" we stopped at a booth that had a bunch of milk bottles stacked in a pyramid that you're supposed to knock down with a baseball.

"Ok, but I still want to try and win you something. Typical or not." He said handing the man money for the balls, and I did the same.

"The one who wins the better gift wins." I smirked and threw my first ball.

**Ok, so not really my best work, but I'm still getting back into the swing of things so please bear with me. I promise to get better! And if you have any suggestions on how to make things better I will gladly accept your help. (and don't say anything with Akito cause I gots a plan for that ya'll) So yeah, hope you found at least something that you liked in this chapter…and once again, my apologies for going on a hiatus -.-**


	33. Chapter 33

**Ok sooo… I have a thousand excuses as to why I am late in updating, seeing as how I really wanted to get this chapter out about a month ago, but I'm not gonna bother with it cause I doubt ya'll really care. So yeah, he's the belated 33****rd**** chapter**

So I tried four times and the best I got was five bottles knocked down, but the guy running the game was nice enough to let me pick a toy from the second prize spot. I chose the teddy bear wearing the tuxedo and now it was Momiji's turn to go. I was pretty sure he would do about the same as I had. He's never been better at me than things like this so I was feeling pretty confident about me winning. So while being in this state of mind you can imagine the feeling of shock I got when he knocked down all ten pins on the first try, right? I mean come on; the jock right next to him didn't even get all of them down.

"How the hell did you do that?" I shouted at him. He just gave me an innocent smile and shrugged.

"I don't know. Guess I just got lucky." And he grabbed the giant teddy bear that was hanging up and handed it to me.

I sighed, "I guess you win." And I hugged the bear close to my chest, "I think I'mma name him…Nick."

"Why Nick?"

"Cause it's my favorite name for a guy. It's what I'm gonna name my little boy when I have kids some day." I smiled when I caught a glimpse of the light blush on Momiji's face.

We walked around the park for about another hour before we decided it would be a good time to go back to the Sohma estate. We took the bus back into town near home and started to walk back to the estate

Later that night I had decided to finally go home; it wasn't nice. I saw my mum sitting at the dinner table, eating, all on her own. I saw her before she noticed me and I couldn't help but to feel guilty. I had just ran off without a word. I know she understood why, but still. I didn't even think about how she must feel. I know she was only keeping it from me to keep me from getting hurt, but still, I think it only hurt me more. I'm not that same breakable, overly sensitive little girl I was just a few years ago. And when she spotted me, and bought it up, that's exactly what I told her.

"Akemi, I know I should have told you, and I wanted to. I just didn't know how. What was I supposed to say? 'Oh, you're father cheated on me so we're getting a divorce'? That sounds horrible, and it is. I know how much you admire your dad, I just didn't want to ruin that."

"Mum, listen to me. Dad pulled an asshole move, and I support your getting a divorce, hell, I'd be pissed if you stayed with him, but I still love him. He is a stupid man, but for most of my life he really has been a good dad. My only issue is where I'm going to end up in the end. I don't want to leave all of my friends behind, especially Momiji. Leaving him would ruin my life. You have no idea how much that boy means to me. It's sill I know, but I know I'll never find another person who I feel as comfortable around." I explained.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere. You and I are staying here and your father is moving in with his new girlfriend. I would never take you away from your friends. Now I know that you really like Momiji, how are things going with the two of you? Any progress?"

"Mum, we're just friends." I blushed, "I told you he's not allowed to date."

"She's right you know? And yet I would say what you did today most certainly crossed the line." I heard a shill voice say. When I turned around I saw Akito standing there. My face went pale, but I wasn't about to let him win by striking fear in me. Instead I got out of my chair and stood up tall.

"You know what Akito; can we just skip the interlude and just go on to with the inevitable beating that I will without a doubt be getting tonight? I'm tired of allowing you to cause me to cower in fear. Just get it over with so I get on with my life." I said in the strongest voice I could muster. My mother stared at me. In her eyes I saw both fear and admiration. I knew she was proud of me for finally standing up to him. She knew it would most likely mean nothing to him, the beating might even be worse, but at least I wasn't going out with a whimper.

"You're getting braver, not that that is going to help you. Come with me girl. It's time you get another lesson taught to you." He out his sickly pale white hand out and I took it, he quickly dragged me back to his home.

The beating was worse than I had ever imagined. The first time I at least got away without any broken bones, needless to say, I wasn't so lucky this time. I ended up break my arm. I also got a black eye, sprained my ankle, and a deep gash on my right cheek. The pain was so unbearable that my body had numbed itself. I could no longer feel it. Sometimes the human body truly amazes me.

"Have you finally had enough?" Akito's voice echoed.

"I don't know, have you?" I retorted sourly, no way was I going to admit that I was ready to pass out.

"Yes, actually, I think I've had my fill for the night. You're quite lucky actually. Because you were so cooperative and listened so well I will let you keep your memories. I'm sure the physical pain of your injuries, and the emotional pain of having to see Momiji so hurt by your foolishness will be enough." He smirked at me, "I'll go call Hatori to come take you." He left the room.

Once I saw he was completely gone I allowed myself to submit to the unbearable urge of sleeping. The minute my eyes closed I felt better, I felt warm, and I felt at peace. Getting the shit beat out of me was worth being able to still see Momiji and be his friend.

**So there it is. The 33****rd**** chapter. I'm pretty happy with it. I actually got inspired today in geometry when we were listening to the announcements and we got the word of the day XD so yeah, hope you enjoyed it. Remember to comment **


	34. Chapter 34

**Woah! What's this? Another chapter in the same week? I'm just about as shocked as you people are haha. So yeah, here it is. Chapter 34 **** let's see how our little Akemi is doing.**

When I opened my eyes and say the familiar white walls f Hatori's medical office. When I tried to sit myself up a shock of pain went through out my whole body. It was worse than any sort of pain I had ever felt before, not even the first time Akito beat me was this bad. He must have been holding back at that time.

I looked around the room to see if anyone was in with me. I winced when I saw a streak of blond hair as I made my glance. What am I going to say to him? I know he's upset, not that's he'll really show it. He's just going to act concerned, and I know he is, but for once I just wish he would get really angry with me. I was completely careless last night and I just want him to get angry! "Baka…" I muttered under my breath, I think a bit too loudly though because the next thing I knew Momiji was at my side

"You're awake." He smiled down at me, and I saw the concern in his eyes, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I was hit by a buss with prisoners who then got out of the buss and were pissed off that I got in their way so they then beat me up." I sighed.

He gave an airy laugh, "Only you would think of that. But...why? Why did you do that?"

"Because I knew it was coming and no way in hell was I about to let him have the pleasure of making me cry like a baby because I didn't do what he wanted me too. I'm not a child, and he has no control over me. I'm not tied down to him and I never will be."

"I know you're not, but did you have to completely submit? You couldn't fight back even just a little? He's completely unwounded and you're lying here with broken bones! That's not fair!"

My eyes widened, "Y-you're really upset with me." I stated with a small smile on my face.

"Of course I am! You went down without a fight! That's not the Akemi I know. Why does that make you smile?" he asked, completely perplexed.

"Because, you've never been angry with me, I know it's weird, but you yelling at me makes me happy. It shows me that you really do care, because if you didn't, you wouldn't be upset with me." I explained.

"Oh…Well why wouldn't I care? You're my best friend Aki… I don't know what I would do without you, and if Akito takes you from me any earlier than planned I think I'll snap."

"Well no need to worry about that right now. I'm not going away for a long ass time. You got that?" I asked, he just nodded in response, "Good, now be a doll and go get Hatori for me. I want drugs and I want 'em now." I laughed, but I had to stop because it hurt so badly.

He shook his head laughing as he went to go find the doctor. When he got back Hatori was right behind him holding a few pills and a cup of water. I took them from him immediately.

"How long till they take effect?" I asked.

"Not too long, don't worry." Hatori assured me, "So how are you feeling today? Obviously you're in bas shape, but sometimes it's not always as bad as it looks."

"Well right now it feels as bad as it looks." I sighed and used my unbroken arm to move my bangs out of my face, "How's my mum?"

"She's fine. She's worried of course, but she's glad you're ok. She also gave me this to give to you." He pulled out a book and handed it to me.

"Sweet! My favorite John Green book." I smiled, "This should entertain me for a bit."

"I'll be here to entertain you too, except for when I have to be at school." Momiji sighed.

"Yeah, so while you're at school I'll read and bug the hell out of Hari. It'll be loads of fun." I smiled at him and I felt the pain pills starting to kick in, "Did you really have to give me one that made me tired?" I looked over at Hatori and yawn.

"Well that's how they work, it was either put you back to sleep or have you stay in pain."

"Then I guess sleep it is…" I settled into the bed and fell back asleep.

**So yeah, there's 34. I hope you like it. Remember to comment **


	35. Chapter 35

**And here it is! Chapter 35. I hope ya'll enjoy it. Please remember to review! I looooove hearing what ya'll think (=**

So it has now been a week since I've been bed ridden by the damage caused by Akito. Though I am no longer in Hatori's office, I've now been moved into my bed room at my mum's house, which is actually very nice. They moved a TV into my room, I've got my laptop, and I've got tons of books to read. So I've been well entertained, not to mention Momiji's kept his promise and has come to see me every day after school, and has stayed with me from morning until night on the weekend. Today was no different. It's a Monday and I'm slowly counting down the minutes until he'll be here to keep me company. When the clock finally strikes three o'clock a smile appears on my face because I know Momiji should be arriving very soon now. I decided to take a quick nap before he came to see me.

I was woken up by the sound of my doorknob clicking. I opened my eye's and watched it turn slowly and eventually reveal the adorably bunny boy who is Momiji. The boy carried in his arms a stuffed animal and what looked like a container of some sort.

"Hey Aki-chan." He smiled brightly at me, "How are you feeling today?"

"A lot better actually, thank you." I returned his smile, "What do you have in your hands there?"

"Oh! These are for you." He ran over to me and handed me a teddy bear, "This is to keep you company while I'm not around," he then handed me the container, which was shockingly cold, "and this is just cause I thought you might like something sweet today."

When I read the label it was slow churned vanilla bean ice cream, my favorite, "Thank you so much Momo! You're much too sweet to me."

"Nope, I'm only giving you what you deserve." He handed me a spoon and I began to eat it happily.

"So how was school today? Did I miss anything big?"

"No, not really, I mean… Kyo and Yuki completely trashed their homeroom again; Uo beat up one of Yuki's fan girls, some girl tried to kiss me again, and Hana-" I cut him off right there.

"Back it up. What did you just say?"

"Uo beat up one of the fangirls…"

"No, after that."

"Oh…uhm… Some girl tried to kiss me…again…" Momiji sweat dropped.

"When you say 'tried', that means there was no actual lip contact right?"

"Of course! As soon as I saw her leaning in I pushed her away and ran. Do you really think I would let that happen?"

"No, but girls are sneaky… I was just making sure she didn't sneak attack you or something…"

"No, she tried leaning in and then I pushed her and I ran the other way. The only girl I'm kissing right now is you." He leaned down and gave me a chaste kiss, "So as I was saying… Hana scared a little freshman girl and her friends. So yeah…nothing unusual."

"That's really sad that that's a normal day for us." I laughed, "Yuki and Kyo really need to chill out at school. I'm surprised they've yet to get suspended for all the damage that they've caused. It's ridiculous. I understand they've got the rivalry going on, but they need to leave that shit at home." I shook my head and gave a laugh.

"Yeah, but it is what it is. You know Kyo won't be able to keep his temper down unless his life really depends on it."

"Yeah, I know, he's so immature… But anyways, Hatori says I should be able to start coming back next week." I grinned.

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah, I'll make sure those girls know you're not up for grabs. If they try anything while I'm around I swear I'm gonna send them to the hospital."

"You don't need to do that… They're really not that bad. I don't think they'll come on to me while you're around though so it's gonna be fine."

"Hmmm, this is true." I yawned, "Hey, would you mind lying down with me?" I asked, setting the ice cream on to the nightstand beside my bed and making room for him.

"No, of course not." He smiled and got in next to me. He wrapped his arms around me in a warm embrace.

"Mmmm, you smell really good." I pointed out.

"Thank you, I thought you might like it."

"Well you were right." I close my eyes and felt him kiss the top of my head before I fell asleep.

**Yays! Aki is starting to feel better and will be able to go back to school soon! I feel bad for any girl who tries to hit on Momiji while she's around though O.o**


	36. Chapter 36

When I awoke from my nap I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and grabbed one of the newest scrap books I've been working on. There aren't that many pictures though, I seem to have been slacking. I have hundreds of my New York trip and that's what this book is filled with. The memories of that trip are probably some of the best of my life so having so many captured in a photo is amazing. I especially love that so few are posed for. I hate the fake memories that people try and create. No one ever just happens to be in a perfect row with pearly white boring smiles plastered on their faces. I much prefer to take a picture when my friends don't even realize I've got my camera. Like the photo I got of my aunt while she was serving one of her frequent customers and she had on her famous smile that just makes the room sparkle, it's something that can never be captured when she poses. She looks happy and everything when she poses, but she never gets that smile. Or the one I took of Jen while she was trying to flirt with this guy at the record shop, it's just priceless.

As I flipped through the pages I notices that I had begun to cry, but they're not tears of sadness, they're just the opposite. They're the tears that fall when you've having happiness overload and just don't know how to release all that energy so it comes in tears. I quickly wiped my eyes and flipped to the next empty page. I pulled out my box of pictures and scrapbook supplies and went to work. It maybe takes me about an hour to finish one page. It's just something I want to be perfect. I'm keeping it for the rest of my life and I don't want to flip to a page and regret a sticker or something, that would kill me just a little bit inside.

After I finished one page and was about half way through with another my mum entered my room. "Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling pretty well mum, thanks. I am feeling a bit sore though, would you mind bringing me some pain killers?" I asked.

"Of course not." she smiled and left the room, returning almost immediately with a short glass of water and two small pills in her hand. She walked over and handed them to me. I placed the pills in my mouth and took a swig from the cup to help ease them down to my stomach. I coughed a couple of times like I always do after taking a pill and ten took another sip of water before setting it onto the nightstand beside my bed.

"So what are you working on?" she looked down at my lap.

"Just a scrap book of my trip to New York. I've been slacking on my picture taking so these are pretty much the only ones I've got. I'll have to start taking some new everyday pictures once I get back to school."

"Oh, I see. You know, I don't think you ever showed me the photos from New York. I've maybe only seen a few of them." she frowned.

"I'm sorry mum... I'll show you the rest of them once I've finished this book." I assured.

"Alright, that sounds good. So how would you like to join me in the kitchen tonight for dinner, rather than having to eat in here all by your lonesome? And Hatori brought by some crutches for you so that you can go out again, you'll also be needing them for a while when you start school back up again. So you'll be needing to get some practice in. I was thinking that maybe you and Momiji could go to the park tomorrow. It should be fun for the two of you to hang out outside of the house I think."

My face lit up with a smile so wide it almost hurt, "Of course! I'd love to get out of this drab room. And go to the park with Momiji tomorrow just sounds absolutely brilliant! I can take my sketch pad and work on some art work." Since I've been hurt I've actually taken up drawing. I used to really suck, but I'm actually getting the hang of it and have gotten quite good. Though lately I've been lacking a certain inspiration. Being outside in the open air of the park sounds like the perfect cure. Especially if I'm with my Momiji-kun.

"Good, I'm glad you're excited." She smiled as she helped me up out of the bed. She acted as my support as I limped into the kitchen area and sat down at the table. Wow, she's done some redecorating. It's been so long since I've been past the hallway I've almost forgotten what the rest of this house looks like. The walls of the kitchen/dining area have changed from drab beige to a warm and rustic deep orange color, there were new stainless steal appliances, and the wood floors were replaced with tile.

"Well it looks like you've been busy." I pointed out.

"Yeah." she laughed, "Since you're father left I've decided that it's time for a change. A fresh start. The renovations actually started with my bedroom, I've just finished the kitchen, next will be the living room, and I think that once you've made a full recovery we'll fix up your room. Those white walls really do nothing for you. You need something that will allow your personality to shine through. Your room should inspire you."

I was grinning yet again. I've been wanting to personalize my room for years now, but my parents never seemed to have the time. Maybe...Maybe dad leaving wasn't such a bad thing after all. It's not as if he was around much anyways. "Thank you mum...That sounds amazing. I can't wait to get better!"

"I can't wait either." she set a bowl of matzo ball soup in front of me. The rising steam that smelled delicious made my mouth water, and as soon as she sat down with her bowl I dug in.

Today turned out to be a pretty good one. I got to see Momiji, he brought me my favorite ice cream, mum's gonna let me redecorate my room, dinner is one of my favorites, and tomorrow I get to go to the park with my most favorite person in the whole wide world. Lets hope things keep moving up, I'm not sure if I can handle them getting any worse.


	37. Chapter 37

OK, I am so so so so so so so sorry. This was actually supposed to be put up a few days ago but I kind of side tracked by these books I'm reading. They're really amazing and I have to have them finished by the next time I see my friend so I've been on a bit of a reading binge... So yeah...here's chapter 37. Hope it's to your liking.

The next morning when I woke up I just couldn't keep the grin off of my face. Finally for the first time in two weeks I was going to be able to get out of bed, get dressed, do my make-up, and leave this goddamned house! I've been confined to the four drab walls of my bedroom for much too long. Last night was the first time I'd left my room, other than to go to the bathroom of course. When I swung my legs over the side of my bed and sat up and leaned over and grabbed the crutches. I'm actually able to put quite a bit of pressure on my foot now so standing up wasn't actually all the difficult.

I walked over to my closet door and opened it. I began to sift through the many clothes that were hanging inside of it to find the perfect outfit for today. It's the first time Momiji will be seeing me outside of my pajamas so I've got to make sure I look good. I mean... I know he could probably care less, but for some reason I feel the need to look extra good today. After I sorted out my outfit for the day I grabbed my towel and headed towards the bathroom for my shower.

Once I was squeaky clean I dried off and began to get dressed. I had finally decided on my black pleated miniskirt with chains, a blood red tight fit long sleeved cashmere shirt, and a pair of my favorite beat up converse since those are just about the only shoes I have that I can wear with how my foot is right now. After I was dressed I started working on my face. I gave myself a smokey eye using shades of purple, I used blue eyeliner to really make my eyes that extra pop, and I just used a soft, rosy pink lip gloss to finish off the look. I gave myself a once over in the full length mirror that hung on the door and I approved. As I entered the living room too show my mum I was startled to see Momiji standing there with her and I flushed bright red. Why I blushed I wasn't so sure, maybe it was cause of the way he was looking at me. It wasn't a bad look or anything, but it was much different from the looks I'm used to getting.

"H-hi Momiji. I wasn't expecting you for another hour." I stuttered out, god I sound like such an idiot. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Well I got impatient and thought I'd show up a little early. Is that ok?" now his eyes looked worried.

"No, it's fine. You just started me a little." I recomposed myself and smiled the most happy-go-lucky smile that I could, which in turn go him to smile.

"Well you look beautiful sweet heart." my mum walked over and kissed my forehead, "A bit dressy for the park, but it's been so long since you've gotten out of your pj's I can understand like you dressed yourself to the nines." she smiled, "Well I'm off to work. You two kids have fun, be safe, and have her back home before dark." she walked out of the house.

"You do look amazing Akemi-chan." Momiji complimented as he walked over to me and closed his arms tightly, almost protectively, around me in a warm embrace.

"Thank you Momiji-kun." I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes, taking in the almost perfect moment, which was only ruined by the fact that I wasn't able to hug back without losing my balance, "So you ready to go?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna go get some ice cream before we go to the park though, is that ok?" he asked with a hopeful smile, one that even if I wanted to, I was completely hopeless at saying no to.

"Of course it's ok. I LOVE ice cream."

"Good, than let's get going." he let go of me and I grabbed my messenger bag that mum let on the table by the door for me and we were out of the house.

I relished in the warmth given off by the afternoon sun and breathed deeply to inhale the lovely scent of freshly cut grass and clean laundry that had been hung out to dry. As we made our way out of the main Sohma estate Momiji and I saw Kisa and Hiro walking around.

"Onee-chan!" Kisa shouted gleefully as she dropped Hiro's hand and ran to me at full force, nearly knocking me over when she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, "Onee-chan, what are you doing out of the house? Are you finally feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better actually. Momiji and I were just headed to go get some ice cream and hang out at the park for a bit, would you like to join us?" I glanced over at Hiro to see if he was ok with it and he glared at me for a split second till he saw the smile Kisa had on her face.

"I would love to! Can we Hiro-kun, please?" she looked over at the young ram with pleading eyes and he let out a small, defeated sigh.

"Yeah, of course. What ever you want Kisa."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she glomped him.

I looked over at Momiji, "I'm sorry... I hope it's ok that I invited them... I didn't think about it..."

He just smiled at me, "It's fine. Today is your day so what ever you want goes."

"Thank you... You're really the best." I smiled back and we made our way to the ice cream parlor where Momiji treated all of us.

I chose a booth by the window because I enjoy watching the passing people. I always wonder where are they going, why are they going there, who will they be with? Sometimes I'll create my own stories based off of the clothes they wear, or what they may be holding at the time. It's a game I play with myself that tends to keep me entertained for a while. I must have zoned out because the next thing I new there was something extremely cold being pressed to my mouth. The sudden shock of cold pulled me out of my thoughts and when I looked down Momiji was holding a spoon of chocolate ice cream to my lips. I took it into my mouth and it's deliciousness slowly melted away in my mouth.

"Sorry about that, guess I zoned out... Thanks for the ice cream though."

"Yeah, you did. You always do that. You have probably one of the shortest attention spans I've ever seen." Hiro grumbled.

"Hiro...be nice to Onee-chan..." Kisa said softly, "Please say you're sorry." she looked up at him with puppy dog eyes he couldn't resist.

"I'm sorry Akemi." he sighed.

"It's fine, I agree with you." I laughed.

"What were you thinking about?" Momiji asked thoughtfully.

"Oh, nothing important. I was just thinking about the people outside passing. You know how I'm a big fan of people watching."

"Oh, ok. You're silly Aki-chan." he smiled at me and continued to eat his ice cream.


End file.
